Fight or Flight: Escape Continued
by Energy-the-hedgehog
Summary: Worlds separated by the Gates of Truth collide as they were never meant to be. The Fullmetal Alchemist must confront and catch the perpetrator while his brother must explore a new world if he wishes to return to his home. Meanwhile, a lone Pokémon, whose only wish was to escape, must choose between the instinct to fight or run away. (Fan Sequel to Phantom SunsSongs' Escape)
1. Foreword

Perhaps the story I cherished most, Phantom SunsSong's _Escape_ holds a special place in my heart. Not for the reason that it was the first story in the Archive Project, which may be what you were thinking. At the time of the fanfic's original release, I was but a maturing child-teen… thing. I already knew that the world of fanfiction could hold literary diamonds if one was willing to search through the rough, but Escape was the first story that truly showed me how beautiful those diamonds could be. Perfect characterization? Check. A gripping story? Check. Fantastic original characters? Check. It had everything one could possibly want in a good story, and everything that would seem impossible in a good fanfic.

And then it ended. It didn't end on a somber note, or a climactic note, or even on a _finished_ note. The author simply lost the steam to continue writing. I will not fault nor hold a grudge against her for this; loss of motivation is quite understandable. Many artists go through it. I myself have gone through it. Still, it left a kind of… gap in me. More than any other, this story had to be finished. It had to be seen through to the end. And so, where the steam had evaporated in SunSong, the fire still burned in me. Such that I, a motivated fan, decided to write this sequel.

While I doubt it will happen, as the original author has left this website permanently, should I be contacted by her to stop, or to take this story down alongside the original in the Archive project, I will do so. My intention here is simply to finish a story, not to take another author's property for my own gain.

With respect, **Energy-The-Hedgehog**

 **Disclaimer** _ **:**_ _Escape_ and its storyline are property of author Phantom SunSong, as are its characters who do not originate from _Fullmetal Alchemist_ or _Pokémon_. Characters from _Fullmetal Alchemist_ , while used within this story, are property of Square Enix, Viz Media, Funimation, and Hiromu Arakawa. The species of Sunsong's characters themselves are property of Pokémon, Nintendo, and Game Freak. Characters not originating from either _Escape_ , _Fullmetal Alchemist,_ or _Pokémon_ , are my own property, but subject to the wills of the original owners of the aforementioned properties; I will default to their judgement. This is a **not-for-profit** fan project whose only intention is to tell a story (or finish one rather); **copyright infringement is not intended.**

 **Summary** : Worlds separated by the Gates of Truth collide as they were never meant to be. The Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric, must confront and catch the perpetrator, the mad alchemist, Evan Isorfold. His brother, the Armored Alchemist, Alphonse Elric, must explore a new world if he wishes to return to his own. At the same time, a lone Pokémon, whose only wish was to escape, must now make the choice between fight and flight if she wants to save both herself, and her friends.


	2. Restart

_**Fight or Flight: Escape Continued**_

 _Restart_

 _Daryn sighed with relief. He helped Ed the rest of the way to the couch, though the boy was still stumbling and doing his best to get his footing. There seemed to be something wrong with his left leg, but Daryn couldn't do anything about it. Once Ed was sitting, Daryn pulled another empty pokeball from his pack. He pressed the button at its center before tossing it. It landed smack on the edge of the Mismagius's hat, cocked upwards from its awkward position on the floor. It was sucked inside in a river of red light, and the ball fell gently to the ground. It shook once. Daryn noticed the zangoose had turned to watch the ball. The ball itself shook again._

 _"How can you speak English?" He asked. She continued to stare at the ball with a serious expression._

 _"I don't know," she answered, just as the ball shook a third time.*_

xxxxx

Sirene prowled aimlessly that night, eventually finding herself in a decrepit alleyway. The entire neighborhood that surrounded her seemed to be, for the most part, abandoned. Her nose caught the smell of human filth still present in the air, but it was distant and faded; she was entirely alone, for the most part. She had somehow gotten lost within the human city. Isorfold was long gone, off to play with his little red stone, while she got herself spectacularly misplaced. If there weren't so many damn humans she might have been able to keep track of his disgusting scent. It might have been easier if her leg wasn't injured. Or if she hadn't wasted time talking to prey, but they needed to know what Isorfold had obtained if she wanted to screw him over. Regardless of the reason, she had failed to keep up with the mad man.

Her thoughts turned now to the humans. What was it about them in this world? Why were they constantly taking her by surprise? Was she not head of the Startail Clan? The humans shouldn't have been able to lift so much as a finger against her, let alone a fist. And yet they regularly defied her at every turn, summoning the earth and commanding it to their will as if they were pokémon themselves. Besides that, they had zero business using her as a tool either.

Sirene inwardly cursed, thinking of that women and the shape-shifter, Envy. Those humans… there was something about them that, aside from inciting her anger, that made her uneasy. It wasn't just the fact that one of them could transform like a ditto either. Their presence was unsettling. Then there was the fact that they were using Isorfold just as much as they had been using her. But what for? She couldn't find an answer.

She was quickly torn from her thoughts when her senses picked up another presence entering the alleyway. A human presence. It wasn't the smell of blood or the sound of footfalls that ticked her off first, however. It was the seemingly endless intent to kill that was pouring out, washing over her and challenging her own. Sirene quickly turned around face the source.

Standing before her at the other end of the alleyway was a dark skinned man with bleached white hair. His face was harsh and his eyes were concealed, but his most drawing feature was the scar on his forehead. It seemed to be carved out from the skin in the shape of an x. He wore a tan coat over a white shirt, and black pants with white stripes on them.

"Yet another Chimera," The man started saying, his voice like gravel. "Will these heathen alchemists never learn to control themselves? Do not worry, pained creature, I will send you to join God's domain." He took a step forward.

Sirene growled. While she did not quite understand what was said, she did not like this man's words nor their implication. She would not be killed so easily. "Take one more step human, and I will kill you." She said, despite realizing in the back of her mind that he wouldn't understand.

The man faltered in his steps for a second, his eyes widening behind the dark shades. "Luxray? An odd sound for a chimera to make. However," The man's expression became stoic once more. "It matters not." The human charged at her, right palm stretched outward with blue lightning dancing about it.

Sirene, while momentarily surprised, was quick to dodge his attack; instinct had screamed at her to not let that hand touch her. The man came at her again for another attack and Sirene dodged appropriately, this time letting loose a Discharge attack at him. The unfocused attack missed, but it caught him by surprise, forcing him back. Using this to her advantage, she rushed forward to strike with a Thunderfang, but was caught mid-stride by a sudden jolt of pain in her back leg. She stumbled, giving the man enough room to maneuver away. Annoyed, she remembered that she was still injured from her earlier encounter with the blonde boy.

Once the man had gotten over his shock at her abilities he tried to grab her once more. Shrugging off the pain, Sirene dodged the attack and ran towards the wall. She jumped off of it towards the other wall, where she repeated the action one more time. Having landed behind the hostile man, Sirene charged up as much electricity as she could into her fangs, to which she used on the man's now exposed backside.

Or at least, that's what would have happened had her wall jumping not sent a paralyzing wave of pain from her leg throughout her entire body, nearly sending her tumbling to the ground. It only lasted a moment, but that moment was long enough for the scarred man to turn around and make another attempt at an attack. Pain struck her again, which, to her luck, caused her to collapse out of the way, causing the man to miss yet again. The whiffed attack gave Sirene an opening, to which she charged up as much electricity as she could in that second and bit into his left side.

There was a sick kind of satisfaction in her when she tasted blood. Another when the man cried out once her attack had taken its full effect. The man recovered quickly, however, and it was over as soon as it happened when he landed a punch to her side. She stumbled back and then dodged when the man swiped at her again. However, the scarred man had anticipated it; when his palm hit the wall behind her there was a flash of light. The wall exploded, shooting brick and rock in a cloud of dust at her. The attack was unavoidable, and Sirene was pelted by the debris in her surprise, while her vision was obscured by the dust-screen.

But she was a luxray; her eyesight was far superior to any other creature her world, or this world, had to offer. It allowed her to back away when she saw the man make another attack at her. She barely avoided it however, as the blue lightning that surrounded the man's arm was dangerously close to her face, just passing by her nose, when she dodged. As a result of all the moving, her hind leg began throbbing with pain to the point that it was no longer ignorable. She couldn't keep this up, she realized; her leg was useless now that it hurt so much.

There was a moment in the fight when both combatants weren't making any moves at each other, waiting for the dust to clear respectively. When it did, Sirene was able to see that scarred man was holding onto his injured side, panting in his own pain. His glasses were lost somewhere amongst the commotion, and Sirene was almost startled by the man's red orbs glaring right at her. She was not entirely startled, however, and returned a glare of her own.

"I will admit," The man began, positioning himself in a fighting stance and letting go of his left side, revealing a rather large spot of red in his shirt. And on the palm of his hand "You are a quite the opponent. This has become far more of a challenge than I earlier anticipated." The scarred man raised his right arm up as lightning began to flash around it, and Sirene tensed up. "But this ends _now_!" He finished, slamming his palm to the ground.

Sirene tried to dodge once more by jumping away, but it was for naught. There ground beneath her roiled up beneath her violently like an ocean wave. Light poured out from every crack in the street, and lightning danced about and between the two in a blinding display. There was a sound like ripping sheets and shrieking metal before it ended.

And then the ground beneath them collapsed entirely.

xxxxx

He sat there quietly in the dark, paying no attention to the room around or the cage that held him. He was dreadfully tired, but not from exhaustion. Or, perhaps, it was… he wasn't sure. _What happened?_ He asked to himself not for the umpteenth time, concerned less with how he specifically got to this place in rather than in general. His life had been perfect before. He had a fantastic trainer; a young boy with great ambition and a deep love for pokémon in his heart. Together, they had decided they would take on the world's challenges, and become the best. They believed in that goal earnestly, and did all they could to reach it. Whether the challenges they faced came in finding food to eat, mountains to climb, trainers to defeat, or Gyms to complete.

Then, less than a week ago, it all changed. Suddenly he was taking orders from an uncaring human, being threatened by his luxray, and stealing this world's creatures so that more pokémon could be brought over. Then more humans had gotten involved, and now he was sitting in a cage in the dark, injured and alone. So he sat there, staring at the floor as he silently desired this nightmare to be over.

The typhlosion was soon stirred out of his brooding, though. There was a rustling and creaking noise to his left, turning his attention to its direction. It was too dark to see, but he was able to register, albeit barely, the sound of whispers between two individuals. It was a moment before he realized that the whispering was being done in the language of pokémon, not humans. At this, he tensed considerably.

From the darkness emerged a figure that he instantly recognized. The spikey mane, piercing eyes, and star-tipped tail were all features indicative of a luxray. The recognition brought his mind straight to Sirene, and he felt his rage building. The typhlosion fiercely growled and ignited his mane of fire, hating and blaming her for all that had transpired. It was not until more features became apparent that he started to calm down, realizing the creature before him was not Sirene.

It was a luxray, of that he was sure, but its features matched nothing of Sirene's. Its frame was masculine, yet it was somehow slender in form and feminine at the same time, putting its gender up for question. In addition, the mane was longer and spikier than any luxray he had seen in his life, although he hadn't seen that many. Perhaps its most drawing feature, however, was its eyes. Instead of a predatory yellow, they were a piercing violet.

The sight of the different luxray was enough to stop his growling at the least. The typhlosion still maintained his glare and fiery mane, however, lighting the rest of the room in the process, and revealing its other occupant in the corner. With its large belly, green and tan fur, as well as its large eyes, he saw that it was a munchlax. His attention remained focused on the luxray walking to the front of his cage regardless.

It stopped right in front of the cage's iron bars, inspecting it with casual indifference and then finally looking him in the face. The typhlosion maintained his fire and his glare, and after a moment, the luxray finally spoke. "Hey now, what's with the hostile look?' Its voice was sickly sweet in tone and caught somewhere between a male and female inflection. "I'm not here to hurt you."

The typhlosion didn't speak. His gut instincts were telling him to be wary of this luxray, so he obeyed.

"Come on now, don't be like that" The luxray started, something akin to a grin beginning to form on his face. "Aren't we both pokémon caught in a world we hate? Who knows… maybe we can find a way out?"

The typhlosion narrowed his eyes, carefully considering its words before deciding to speak. "Who are you?"

"Would you look at that! It can talk!" The luxray exclaimed, a look of triumph on its face. "For a moment there I thought you were mute. Since you asked, my name is Envy. What's yours?"

The typhlosion frowned at the name. Envy… that was another word for jealousy, wasn't it? It was definitely not common, and too odd to ignore. His suspicions about the luxray were risen once more, so he decided to remain silent.

For a moment, Envy's grin became deflated. "You seem to be a little stuck in there. If you want, I could give you a little leg room, if you catch my drift." The luxray's grin went wide when he said that, forcing the typhlosion to take notice of the abnormally sharp teeth that it sported.

He turned away from the luxray; he was tired of looking at it. "Go away and leave me be."

"Whaaaat?" Envy cried, shocked. "Are you actually telling me you _want_ to be in that cage? You do know what's going to happen to if you stay in there, right?"

Again, the typhlosion found himself looking at the floor. He sighed. "I do not care." He started. "I hate this place. All I want is to go home. To get away from this… nightmare. If letting the humans kill me does that, then this will all be over…"

For a few seconds, Envy was silent. When the luxray spoke again, his tone was almost condescending. "I won't argue if you've made up your mind, but you should know that it's not going to be that easy. I don't know a lot about this world, but I do know that the humans here know next to nothing about us. You see, once they take you to their labs, they're going to try to figure what makes you tick. And let me tell you, it is going to be all kinds of _painful_." Envy's tone had taken a dark turn, and its grin returned, now vicious, he could tell. "Who knows exactly what they'll do to you? They might pick your brain apart, or cut off a limb, or maybe slice into your guts, all while you're awake and screaming. I honestly have no idea. The most important part, however? It's not going to be the slow and painful death, but the fact that when they do kill you… it's all going to be in vain. Because once you do die, you'll be no closer to home than you had so desperately hoped."

The luxray's words stabbed painfully into him. He did not want to admit it, but deep down he knew them to be true. Gruesome images of what the luxray described the humans would do flooded his mind. Including the pain he might feel. Regardless of the mistrust he felt towards Envy, he could see the facts of it all, including the dreadful realization that, as the luxray had said, it would all be in vain. He turned his gaze back to Envy from the floor, the luxray's viscous grin now transformed into a friendly smile.

"Of course," Envy began with a tone that was sweet once more. "If you side with me, that fate could be avoided all together. In fact, you might even get a chance to get revenge against the humans who did this to you. Like, perhaps, Isorfold?"

At the mention of his name the typhlosion's face contorted into anger again. The same despise he felt for the luxray, Sirene, he also felt for Isorfold. He was the one who had stolen him from his trainer, and then set him upon this nightmare. While he hadn't considered taking revenge against him, it now seemed like a very ideal course of action to take. The typhlosion wasn't fully convinced on it, however, as his gut told there was something not right with Envy. Unfortunately, He didn't get to dwell on that for long.

"Psst. Hey!" The muchlax he had barely noticed before called out to them, whispering. "We don't have much time! I can hear some humans coming this way right now!"

Envy smiled again. The typhlosion found he really wasn't liking this, or the luxray before him. Something about the luxray was completely off. "Time's up!" Envy exclaimed. "Looks like you've got to make a decision. You can either stay here and painfully die for nothing, or come with us and get some well deserved revenge. What's your choice?"

The typhlosion growled again, but this time in frustration. To him it almost seemed like he was deliberately being placed between a rock and a hard place. As much as he didn't trust the luxray in front of him, he knew that if anything Envy had said was true (and he had a sinking feeling that he did) then there was only one choice he could make. He had to escape with the luxray.

"Fine." The typhlosion reluctantly said. "I will go with you."

For a quick second, he thought he saw Envy's smile become a predatory grin, but it was gone just as soon as it was there. In an instant the bars to his cage were sliced clean through, creating a large enough space to exit. The luxray moved out of the way, and the typhlosion crawled out. Finally able to stand up, he took a long stretch, relishing in freedom from his earlier imprisonment.

"Well then, I'd say it's time to get moving. Follow me." Envy said, trailing away from the typhlosion with his tail flicking about. He was followed closely behind by the munchlax.

"Wait." The typhlosion started, halting the other two pokémon in their tracks. Envy looked back at him with annoyance. "Earlier, you asked me what my name was. It's Aster**, and I'd like to thank you for freeing me."

Envy nodded in response, before turning back around and continuing on his way. His new companions followed, and the small group of three left the room. What they were unaware of was that Asters' escape was one of three special events taking place that night. To the south of East City, a confrontation was taking place between two dangerous, but wholly different individuals. In the household of Edward Elric, a young trainer and his host were in the middle of capturing a ghost.

xxxxx

When Sirene awoke, it was in a pained daze. Her brain was muddled and confused, stricken with a terrible headache. She could not remember what she had been doing earlier, nor could she remember why she was in as much pain as she was now. It was not restricted to her head alone, however. Her entire body was hurting as if some pokémon had used Close Combat on her repeatedly. Her leg, feeling especially off, was sending out intense and unbearable waves of pain. Finally, she noticed an intense pressure in her lungs, as well as a strange dampness on ( _in?_ ) her chest. The nausea she felt from it all was almost overwhelming, but she endured, holding back the urge to vomit.

Sirene struggled desperately against the pain to open her eyes. It took a moment, but when she did, everything was a in a dark haze. Despite that, she was able to make out a few vague shapes. There were the juts and rectangular shapes of the stone and brick that made up the pile of debris she had collapsed on. There was musty stench and the sound of water flowing by, indicating a river of some kind with in the human constructed cavern she found herself in. It was likely a tunnel, she thought.

There was one other shape she saw, and it was a human shape. At that recognition her eyes widened, revealing to her the man she had been fighting before. The full memory of the battle returned to her, and she realized he was the one who was responsible for her current circumstances. Once more his hand was raised in the air, poised to attack.

Sirene tried to get up and move out of the way, panicked, but her injuries and the pain resonating from them paralyzed her. Thus, she instead closed her eyes tightly, inwardly preparing herself for the inevitable strike. In her mind, however, she cursed at the man and damned herself for being in this position. _Is this how I die?_ She wondered. _At the hands of a lowly human? How pathetic._

"Well now, this is a surprise"

Sirene's eyes shot back open, startled by the voice of the newcomer. The man also seemed surprised, for his arm was no longer poised to attack, and the lightning that was arcing about it had dissipated. His eyes widened, and he looked back to face the new speaker.

"So Scar the Ishvallan is alive and well after all." The voice continued, silky and feminine. It was agonizingly familiar to Sirene. Where had she heard it before? "I was starting to believe that you really were underneath all that rubble back then."

"Lust! It's that Ishvallan I never got to eat before. Can I eat him now Lust? Can I please?"

 _What?_

Sirene strained her head up, trying to get a proper look at the newcomers. That other voice, which almost sounded childlike, was one she hadn't heard before. It was quite jarring, and her curiosity had been peaked as a result. Between the difficulty in moving, the pain in doing so, and her blurred vision, however, she couldn't catch much detail before her head fell back down. All that she did see was a dwarfed, apish figure standing alongside a taller, slender body.

The silk voice spoke again, this time with evident glee. "Go ahead Gluttony. He's all yours. Don't leave _anything_ behind."

At that point, Sirene was barely able to register the sound of explosions and flesh being sliced into before she blacked out entirely.

xxxxx

 _The night's perils are now over. The morning's perils, however, are not. As they move on into the day to catch their madman, what horrors will the daylight beget? Step forward into the dawn and face life as you were meant to. Escape is impossible._

 _NEXT TIME:_

 _Morning Tidings_

 *** This story is a fan sequel to Phantom SunsSong's story,** _ **Escape**_ **. If you have not read it, go do that. Reading this story will be impossible otherwise. Specifically, it follows after chapter 17.**

** Aster, while a name of my own product, is a name that is forfeit to Phantom SunsSong, as it was assigned to _her_ original character. Naming him was not meant as a means of taking him from her and making him my own; that would be stealing, and thus (at the very _least_ ) disrespectful. Naming him was simply done in the interest of ease in writing.


	3. Morning Tidings

_Morning Tidings_

xxxxx

The very next morning, once everyone had managed to get some small amount of sleep, revealed the full extent of the consequences of the night before.

The fight had left its toll on the house. Large patches of drywall had come loose in some areas and caved in from the sudden impacts and abuse in others. The glass coffee table in the main room was now nothing more than shattered dust and splintered wood. On the left wall was once a great bookcase filled with expensive and thick texts on various fields of Alchemy; it was now a shadow of its former self, covered in large gashes, burn marks, and impromptu confetti. The couch that had previously served as a guest bed was nearly in the same state, and barely functional as a sitting place. All in all, the place was simply a mess.

And Edward was taking every chance he could to complain about it.

"Look at this place, it's a total disaster." Ed cursed, kicking a nearby chunk of wood. The pichu he called Chimera, whom he had rescued earlier yesterday, was firmly perched on his shoulder and contently listening to Ed's previous swearing.

Sitting on the ruined couch was Daryn, the trainer brought from another world by the mad Alchemist Isorfold. For the first time since that night Daryn finally spoke up. "Sorry. It was so dark that I didn't realize the how much damage had been done. We might have kept this from happening if I told you what mismagious were capable of." Daryn said with obvious guilt, referring to the pokémon that had been caught at the end of the previous night's battle.

"Why are you apologizing? I was more involved than you were. And besides, I think our mongoose pokémon over there is more to blame than all of us." Ed pointed with his metal thumb in the direction of the pokémon in question, a zangoose.

Said pokémon, who was minding her own business in the corner of the room, simply grunted and glared at the other end of the room. Since the battle with the mismagious ended, she had been there the rest of the night and morning. Daryn really didn't feel like trying to return her to her pokeball.

" _I may acknowledge that you're my trainer,"_ Daryn remembered her saying to him in plain English, " _But that doesn't mean I'll take orders from you. Don't push your luck human."_ Yeah, making the attempt probably wasn't a good idea.

"Anyway," Ed added, now sufficiently calmed down, "It's nothing a little alchemy can't fix." With that, the Fullmetal Alchemist clapped his hand and placed them over the remains of the coffee table. The familiar blue glow and lightning of a successful transmutation came and went as the shattered glass and wood came back together into a recognizable form. Daryn's eyes, as well as all the others, were on the display and wide with awe. Once over, Daryn, Rin (his ralts, whom had also been out since the fight), and the zangoose were staring at him.

"What?" Ed said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "It's just a little alchemy."

Something clicked in Daryn's mind at that. _So that's it_! Daryn thought… and blurted out. "Alchemy. That's how you were able to fight m- err, Zangoose earlier!" Shortly after the exclamation, another realization occurred to him, to which he added "Is it also why-"

"Why you're here? Yeah it is." Ed's tone was cold, and while he didn't say it, the unspoken addition to that sentence was clear. _It's also why your here instead of my brother._ The words stung the young trainer, causing him to turn his head away to the floor.

An uncomfortable, awkward silence filled the room. Ed quickly realized just what he had said and became disgusted with himself, wondering where Al was to scold him.

"Fang" Said the zangoose, breaking the silence and shocking Ed and Daryn appropriately. "My name, it's Fang*" She continued, hardly noticing the boys' gaze.

"…how can you talk?" Ed asked, still stunned. Mera perked up from his shoulder, seeming to become more interested.

"We don't know" Daryn answered for him and the zangoose.

"I can speak for myself, human."

"Yeah, we get that." Ed replied, shooting back with a glare. Despite his snippiness, Ed was still trying to figure out in his mind how the pokemon was the only one able to speak fluently, where other pokemon could not. And, of course, how the pokémon was able to speak in the first place.

Fang returned the glare. As Ed's mind tried to work at the mystery of her language ability, she tried to understand what Edward had earlier done. At least, that was what Ed assumed. He met her stare with his own, while Mera tried and failed to do the same.

Daryn would have laughed at the amusing sight, but he was frightened at the prospect of a fight breaking out between the two. He remembered their first fight when he first came to Amestris; both of them had been trying to kill each other, swinging sharpened claws and sharpened blades respectively. There was a tension between the two. It was a tension which was now escalating before him. The boy could have sworn he saw lightning clashing between their eyes. Even though he was not sure how, he knew that he had to end the scene now before it could truly escalate. Luckily for him, he would not need to.

 _THUD THUD THUD_

Ed, Daryn, and the pokémon around them immediately turned their attention to the house's front door; where the sudden noise had come from. Each held a different expression. At the new distraction, Daryn and his ralts, Rin, bore nearly identical expressions of relief. Fang, on the other hand, looked annoyed that her impromptu staring contest had ended without a true victor. Mera, while as relieved as Daryn and Rin were, was also curious at the new noise. Edward simply looked exasperated.

" _Now_ what is it?" Ed asked.

 _THUD THUD THUD_

" _THERE'S NO NEED TO HIDE, EDWARD ELRIC. I KNOW THAT YOU'RE IN THERE!"_

Edward's expression turned from one of exasperation to one of horror.

"Who is _that_?" Daryn asked, stunned by the boisterous and masculine voice that had spoken.

"Major Armstrong" Ed replied, suddenly exhausted. "If we ignore him, he might go away."

Unfortunately, that would not be happening. Just as Ed finished his sentence the handle to the front door burst inwards, a large hand gripping it on the other side. The sudden force of the action itself propelled the door it was formerly attached open. Once it hit the wall, everyone present got a very clear look at the intruder. The expression they each shared now, both humans and pokémon, was the same. That expression being one of shock, fear, and horror.

xxxxx

It was a well-known fact back home that Mera was quite the heavy sleeper. She had been able to sleep through the heaviest of storms and through the loudest of snoring sleepers her family could throw at her, all without even the slightest impact to her sleep schedule. Taking this into account, she was quite frustrated with herself that morning. The entirety of the night before was spent sleeping peacefully, dreaming of ways to impress her trainer, Ed, and the praise that he would bestow upon her. Waking up brought the realization that that chance had come and gone. An entire battle had taken place between him, the zangoose now called Fang, the other trainer, and a mismagious of all things! All the while she slept away as if it was nothing more than a passing storm.

So, perched on her trainer's shoulder, she vowed that she would not miss another fight when one came. Even if it was against a zangoose. Although running might also be a good idea too sometimes, she quickly amended. That zangoose could throw quite a mean glare. She was quite glad that the man her trainer called Armstrong had ended their previous glaring session. She didn't want to know how far that could have escalated. His entrance had still been quite jarring, though. He had pounded more so than knocked, and then broke the door open to reveal himself.

The human was quite literally the largest human she had ever seen in her entire life, standing taller than the metal suit that had been travelling with her trainer, who, up until that point, had previously held the record. The freakishly large man wore a dark blue coat and pants, accentuated with yellow highlights and completed by a rather intimidating set of black boots. From his waist Mera could make out the silver glint of a chain that led to something in his pocket, similar to the chain one that led to her trainer's own pocket. The face of the large man was, to put it simply, imposing. His face was stone set, with a blonde mustache, a curl of hair on his blonde head, and hard blue eyes. His sudden entrance and overall appearance was frightening. Mera wanted to get away from him as quickly as possible.

That was precisely what her trainer did, arms raised in surprise.

But Armstrong wasn't finished with his entrance alone. The man's face was soon awash with tears that gushed like rivers from his eyes. "WHAT A TRAGEDY THIS IS!" The large man cried, ripping his coat and shirt off, revealing muscles to which even a machamp would be impressed. He flexed, and Mera could have sworn that she saw sparkles appear around him. "A DISASTER TRULY! TO LOSE YOUR VERY BROTHER IN SUCH TO AWAY TO A MAN LIKE ISORFOLD! PLEASE EDWARD, ALLOW THE COMFORTING EMBRACE OF THIS CHISELED PHSYQUE TO CONSOLE YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED!" The man moved uncomfortably close to Mera and her trainer, arms spread out in what could only be a bear hug.

"NO WAY!" The two screamed simultaneously, moving as far away from the man as quickly as possible. The other members of the room were also reacting to the scene in varying degrees of dismay. The other trainer, Daryn, had backed up as much as was conceivably possible onto the couch. Save for obscured eyes, his ralts had nearly mirrored his slack jawed expression perfectly. The zangoose was pressing herself into her corner further, flabbergasted at the display.

"What are you even doing here anyway, Major?" Ed asked once he was at a safe distance from the bizarre man.

"Why Ed, when the Colonel told me about what had happened, I had to see you immediately!"

"Of course it was Mustang" Ed cursed under his breath, muttering something else that, even from her perch on his shoulder, Mera couldn't quite make out.

Armstrong soon settled down and turned his attention to the other occupants in the room. His eyes widened once they caught the pokémon present in the room. "So these are the chimera that Mustang spoke of…" He muttered, voice trailing off. Mera frowned. There it was again. Why did they keep using her name as if it were some kind of species or something? Armstrong didn't say anything else about that once he finally noticed the room's damaged state. "Oh my. What happened here?"

Ed sighed. He'd been doing that a lot lately, Mera noticed. "It's a long story, Major. One you might wanna sit down for." Mera perked up at that. She was going to finally hear the grand tale of last night's battle! She hoped it would be good.

xxxxx

Alphonse was shoved none too lightly into the aluminum chair. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded in the sparsely decorated room. It was room that was standard made for interrogations. The only notable features were the two metal chairs on either side of a long table, also aluminum. The rest of the room was some combination of light grey or dark grey. The only other notable features were the occupants of the room. Alphonse, the boy in the suit of armor, and the two men in black uniforms opposite of him. Al knew what they wanted: information. The wanted to know why he was a suit of armor.

The two grunts were glaring hard at Al. The first one on the left he recognized as the man called Hanson, who had captured Tasha, Elina, and himself earlier that day. He briefly wondered about their well-being before reassuring himself that they were all right; he had to focus on the present. The man on the right was somebody Al had never seen before, wearing the same black uniform with the red R signifying their organization as Hanson wore. His hair was a greasy black and his eyes were the color of charcoal. He leaned against the wall while Hanson pulled out a chair and sat directly across from Al, his glare never faltering. Al returned the glare with one of his own, one that was more effective behind the faceplate of the helmet and the white orbs within.

"Why are you a suit of armor kid?" Hanson asked without faltering, despite the reverse intimidation.

Al almost laughed at the bluntness of the question. He didn't know much in the way of interrogation himself, but he was fairly sure that this wasn't the way one went about it. Al didn't respond.

Irritated by his silence, Hanson's eyebrows furrowed and his scowl deepened. "Look, we've got plenty of ways to get information out of you. All of them are rather unpleasant scenarios. So, why not do yourself a favor and tell us what we want to know? Make it easy."

Al almost laughed again. "You're not very good at this, are you?"

"What?"

Al sighed. "Sir, I don't mean to sound rude," He began, in a tone of politeness that he knew infuriated Hanson. "But there's not much you can do to threaten me. If you're thinking of torture, I have to ask what you could possibly do. I don't eat or sleep, and I don't feel pain or the temperature either." Alphonse said matter-of-factly, his tone flat. While these were advantages, what Al would not tell the man was that those were things he actually missed. Al shrugged his shoulders awkwardly; his hands had been bound behind his back, making the movement difficult overall.

Hanson's expression changed to one of consideration, having closed his eyes, pursed his lips, and turned his head away. A moment passed before Hanson began gritting and gnawing his teeth together in anger before returning his attention to the armored alchemist to give a particularly nasty glare. Al took pleasure in it, satisfied that he could be as infuriating as his brother when the need arose.

…

He suddenly realized he had compared himself to his brother. There was no way he was or could be as rude and impolite as his brother. No way. That was just a fluke caused by is situation. Yup.

"You've got guts, _freak_ , I'll give you that." Hanson said, breaking Al out of his thoughts with the harsh jab. The man now bore a sinister expression. "How about that shinx? Or what about that girl we found you with? They seem nice." Al froze up at their mention, his hands now clenching tightly.

"You know," Hanson started as his grin grew wider, "We don't usually take prisoners. Too much can go wrong in detaining them. Something can happen to them on their way to their cells, something can go wrong _inside_ their cells, and something can go wrong simply by feeding them. Especially when you're inexperienced or the prisoners are being _unruly_."

"You wouldn't!" Al cried, quickly standing up and knocking his chair backwards in the process. It hit the wall and fell to the floor in a loud clatter, but it was ultimately ignored.

Hanson laughed. "Hit a sore spot did we? But you're right, interrogations aren't my specialty. I prefer to take the more… physical approach." Hanson turned to the other man in the room, who had slipped behind Al while they was talking. "Isaac, take the helmet off."

The man, Isaac, grabbed the horsetail connected to the top of Al's head and yanked hard on it. Al cried out, but it was too late; there was no resistance as the helmet flung backwards. The man caught the helmet easily, but his eyes widened in horror at what was revealed.

"It's… empty." He stuttered.

"That's right." Hanson knowingly said. "It is."

Al inwardly sighed. He was getting _real_ tired of people revealing his secret to everyone. Was this going to become a trend? The armored alchemist watched Hanson closely as he walked around the table towards him. He became visible tense when the man was right next to him, peering deep inside his armor body. On any other day, Alphonse would have recognized it as an impressive feat considering the height difference.

"So," He started, pointing at Alphonse's blood rune. "Let's start with that that drawing there. I'm guessing it's pretty important."

There was a clatter of metal on concrete before Isaac suddenly gabbed onto Alphonse, wrapping both arms as tightly as possible around his arms and torso. Alphonse was about fight back when Hanson jumped onto him from the front, angling himself above the hole where his head used to be and reaching inside into torso. Isaac was red in the face trying to hold Al down, but Hanson was in an excited frenzy, caught up in the moment.

"Is this what makes you _tick_!?"

Alphonse was quick to protest, flinging his arms as best he could. "No! Wait! Don't touch that, you'll-"

It was soon too late for him to do anything, however. The man had already brushed his fingers against his blood circle. It wasn't enough to alter the dried blood, but the action was enough to garter a major reaction. Al blacked out, his body becoming lifeless and limp. Isaac and Hanson quickly let go of him, causing the suit of armor to clatter down to the floor like a dead body. Both men moved away to either side of the room, their eyes as wide as dinner plates. They remained in their corners for a long moment, and the room became deathly quiet.

Isaac was the first one to break it. "You idiot!" He shouted, terror permeating his voice. "You've killed him! What the hell were you even thinking!? Do you have any idea what the boss will do to us now!?"

"Shut up! He's not dead." Hanson snapped back, frightened at the very real possibility that Aeros might tear him apart if the armor really was dead. "He's just… unconscious. Come on, let's get him back to his cell with the girl. And put that helmet back on him while you're at it."

xxxxx

 _To be captured and lose your own power may be considered defeat. But it may also be your opportunity to strike back. When your opponents believe they have won, an advantage has been gained. Ally accordingly, and prepare your counter offensive._

 _Next Time_

 _Applications of Truth._

xxxxx

* Fang is a name that is forfeit to Phantom SunsSong, as it is assigned to _her_ original character. Naming her was not meant as a means of taking her from her and making her my own; that would be stealing, and thus (at the very _least_ ) disrespectful. Naming her was simply done in the interest of ease in writing.


	4. Applications of Truth

_Applications of Truth_

xxxxx

 _"Then you understand what is happening." I looked back up at Ari. Her face remained almost expressionless, but I could see sympathy in her features this time. She knew what I felt, more acutely than I ever hoped to know. "And do you understand your options?" That comment surprised me._

 _"Options?" I asked, not quite following._

 _"Yes," she replied, and the dull look in her eyes was replaced by one of determination. "You can stay here, become a lab rat of these humans," she spat the last word like it left a bad taste in her mouth, "or you can help me to escape." I had no idea what her plan might be, but whatever it was, I knew I had to go with it._

 _"Just tell me what to do," I said with conviction.*_

xxxxx

"The humans will have to feed us if they want to keep us alive. We're not useful dead, after all. When they do, that is when we will strike. They've suppressed my psychic powers with this infernal collar so I won't be able to do anything fancy, but I'm not useless; I know a physical move or two. I will still need as much of your help as possible if we are to escape successfully." Ari replied to me, outlining her plan as if she had gone through it many times before. Which, when I thought about it, was probably the case. "For now we will wait."

I nodded in confirmation and at the logic of her plan. It made sense that the humans here would want to keep us alive if they wanted to keep us. _Not that I'd let them keep me_ , I thought. I wouldn't fight for anyone but Alphonse; that was a special case. As for the collar she mentioned, I shuddered when I took notice of it. Black and constricting, it was a mix of metal and leather like material that tightly clung to her neck. The thought of such a device was simply awful. Ari seemed used to it, however, if the way she expressed no emotion about it was an indicator. Yet that was somehow more awful. I ultimately ignored it in favor of continuing the conversation. "I understand. You want me to attack when they come and open the door?"

Ari shook her head. "That will not work. I tried that before. They have some kind of paralyzing stick. Although…" Ari looked to the side considering something. "No, it will not work. Especially not as you are now. Instead, we will need to take the keys they use. They're usually hooked to their waists. That will require a distraction, one which I will provide. I will need you to take the keys from them when that happens. Do _not_ get caught when you do."

"Right." I nodded again. Inwardly, I was relieved at the plan. Ari's plan made sense, and it was much safer than simply an all-out attack and rush to the exit. Specifically, I was glad that I wouldn't have to attack a human; I didn't even know if I could. It wasn't that I liked them at all, far from it. In fact, between the kidnapping of Alphonse and me, as well as the abuse that was evident on the espeon in front of me, I couldn't despise them more if I tried. Regardless, the idea of attacking some in anything but self-defense made me feel queasy. It was too in-line with what my clan would normally do. It was what Sirene would do. Stealing from these humans, _however_ …

"What will we do in the meantime?" I asked, brushing away my thoughts. In all honesty, I had a vague suspicion about what she would say. Wait and heal.

"For now, we will wait," Ari started, her voice losing its earlier confidence in favor of tiredness, "And we will rest. Heal from your injuries and regain your strength." With that said, she wandered over to the corner of our cage and laid down, curling up into a light pink ball. She looked at me motioning to do the same, so I did so, curling into myself into my own ball of gray-black and blues.

A long moment of quiet passed before I let out a sigh of frustration. I could not rest. I knew that I needed to if we wanted to escape successfully, but I couldn't. Thoughts of Al, the girl, and the other world of Amestris were plaguing my mind. What had happened to Ed when we left? Was he able to stop Isorfold? Or did he fail, and Isorfold now had an army? I didn't know what Isorfold would want with an army of pokémon, but I could tell it wasn't anything good. Ed was certainly a capable fighter, but he would be outmatched in comparison. Then there was the girl that had been captured when we came here. Had she been hurt by the humans here? What of Al? Thoughts of what might have happened to Ari's own trainer struck me, and I feared the worst.

 _Oh, Al. I hope you're alright. Please don't be hurt._ I pleaded with myself for his safety as images of his body, turned to eviscerated scraps or melted into a pile of unrecognizable metal, flittered through my imagination. I shook my head vigorously, shouting inwardly that _no, Al was definitely alive._ Still I tossed and turned, thinking unrelentingly about his fate. After a while I started to wonder what he meant to me, thinking about such things obsessively. Was he just a friend? Or was he what we pretended when we met the girl, a trainer? It couldn't be, but if it wasn't, why else was I so concerned. Wondering about it brought me towards Ari, and her trainer, and their fate. Something happened, and now Ari was alone. A question popped into my mind, one that I regretted thinking about, but was too important to ignore.

I turned over to face Ari, who was still curled up in the corner of the room. "Ari," I began, dread in my tone. I knew I shouldn't have been asking, but I couldn't stop myself. "Ari, what happened to your trainer?"

Ari's head shot up instantly, giving me such a nasty glare that it immediately made me wish I never asked. Her eyes were narrowed and her were held back ears back against her head, the barest tips of her fangs protruding out from underneath the edges of her snarling frown. I couldn't bear to keep looking and turned away. "My trainer?" She started, tone dark but with an undeniable undertone of sadness. "She promised that she would stay with me. Then they took her from me. And then they killed her. Do yourself a favor and keep your faith away from human beings. They'll give you something precious and warm called friendship. Then they'll tear it away from, and they'll leave you behind completely." He her words were bitter. "For you, it may have already happened."

My eyes widened in horror at what she was saying. I stood up and glared her, my eyes narrowed and teeth bared, angry. "No! Not Al! That's not who he is! That's not what would happen to him" I cried.

"Don't fool yourself." Ari snapped back, voice far too cold and indifferent for an espeon. "He's gone. Probably even dead. Accept it. You'll be better off in the end."

"Al's not gone. And he's not dead either." I insisted, not entirely believing my own words as my voice began to shake. There was no way Alphonse could just up and die as the espeon before me was saying. It was a thought that was too horrible to accept, and yet I could not deny its possibility.

Ari didn't take to kindly to that, her expression becoming angry once more. "Oh really, is that what you think?" She snapped back. "What _exactly_ makes you say that?"

I paused and looked down at the floor. Hot tears were threatening at the edges of my eyes, but I held them back. I had no evidence that Al really was still alive. But I knew it still none the less. A renewed vigor welled up inside me, like a fire bursting in my spirit. A small, confident smile grew on my face, and my eyebrows furrowed. Ari took a step back, flinching at the look I now sported. My voice was hard set; opposite of what it was earlier. "I know he's alive, because he's an alchemist."

xxxxx

Elina was fairly sure that this day was the worst day of her entire life. It wasn't enough to simply be attacked by a wild zangoose (which weren't even _native_ to Sinnoh) on the first day of her adventure, but her brother (and said zangoose) would then be whisked away by that horrible blue lightning. It could have simply ended there, and she would still forever be scarred for life. Fate wasn't done with her, it seemed, and decided that being attacked by Team Galactic was a perfect way to cap the day off. Or at least, she thought it was Team Galactic anyway. The black colors and red 'R' that they wore on their uniforms were different than those of the other team. Not that it mattered at the moment.

She sat there in the dimly lit and barren room, starring at the wall, or rather pastit. Her legs were curled up against herself, tucked in by her arms, and her eyes were hollow; expressionless. Her skin prickled at the coldness present in the room, but she failed to register it. She couldn't really feel anything. The weight of the events that recently transpired had made her numb. Daryn, her only brother, was gone. Initially those words were easy to accept, but now their true gravity was beginning to sink in. Hot tears ran down her cheeks, and she could feel a sob coming on. She tried to hold it back, thinking that her brother would want her to be strong. Yet she sobbed anyway, burying her head into her knees as her whimpers resounded throughout the room.

 _Mom and Dad were standing before her with grief stricken faces, a man in a blue uniform with a silver badge standing next to them. He was an officer, but neither Elina nor her brother_ ( **gone** ) _could see his face fully underneath the shadow cast from his black cap. They could only catch the tired scowl that he bore as he explained, with little attachment in his voice, what had happened the previous night to the small family._

" _We scoured the scene of the crime as thoroughly as possible, but we couldn't find it._ _ **It disappeared.**_ _I'm sorry, but your egg has been stolen."_

Her memories of the past were interrupted before she could stew in them, however, when two of the Team Galactic (were they Galactic?) thugs came in with a suit of armor held up between them. They didn't seem to notice her huddled form as they walked it to the other side of the room, struggling at the apparent weight. It took a moment for her to realize that the armor belonged to Alphonse, the tall boy who was wearing it when she met him. Or rather, he _met_ her after her brother was taken. When she did realize who it was, she stifled a cry of relief, not wanting the grunts to notice her. They dropped him unceremoniously into a corner, where the armored boy landed in an awkward position. They left not long after dropping him, closing the metal door to the room (in actuality a bar-less cell) shut with a dull "thunk." behind them

Almost an hour passed where Elina simply sat, staring at Al, who was hunched over with his arms jutting out oddly, resting on his leg in a way that looked painful. Eventually she managed to find the strength to crawl over to him, albeit slowly, and grabbed his shoulders. She tried to sitting him upwards, apprehensively expecting it to be momentous task and instead found it deceptively easy. Looking into his helmet, the girl fount that the glowing orbs he had possessed when they met were gone.

"Al? Al are you awake?" She whispered, softly shaking the boy's shoulders.

The armor did not move. Al didn't respond. Was he unconscious?

"Al, wake up!" Her voice began to rise, panic and earlier sorrow creeping into her voice. "Please, you're scaring me!"

Still the armor did not move, and Elina found herself becoming increasingly afraid. The armored boy was not awake. He wasn't even there.

xxxxx

The first thing that Al saw were flashes. Flashes that were filled with painful, horrible things. They sped fast through his mind, quick enough to see, but not quick enough to recognize. The images were familiar nonetheless, and it tool Alphonse a moment to realize that they were memories. When he did he started to recognize them, and then he saw everything.

Flash! Him and his brother, so young, so _complete_ , standing in the basement of their family home, preparing the human transmutation circle they would use to try to bring back their mother.

Flash! Both he and his brother had activated the circle with wide smiles and hopeful eyes, watching the blue light as the transmutation started.

Flash! The transmutation had failed, ricocheting back onto him as black tendrils tore at his body, breaking it down piece by painful piece; he cried out to his brother.

Flash! He was in an intense and empty void, feeling an ominous presence behind him as he stared at a ghostly white figure; he was terrified.

Flash! The gate opens, pulling him inside as he screams; the white figure watches with a grin that is impossibly wide for its face. The gates close on him, turning the world of white into a world of darkness.

A final flash! Ribbons of information like the reels of films are flying around him, converging at a point obscured in light. The information that they contain pour into his head as they fling past him; the cycle of human life by every individual cell until death; the entire layout of the Earth's natural food chain; every single war in human history; the chemical composition of _everything_. All this information spirals around him, into him, before he can properly recognize and understand it, before he can even know he has it. The flow of information doesn't stop filling his head even after Al's brain has already taken all that it can hold, and it hurts. Oh does it _hurt_.

"Stop! STOP!" He cries and is promptly ignored. The reels don't stop coming, hurting unbearably; they tear into his head past the point where he feels his skull should have _cracked_. "Please! It hurts! It-"

He stops pleading suddenly. A bright, white figure appears before him; its hair wispy and long, and its arms spread out towards him as if for a warm embrace. Alphonse reaches out his right arm towards it, crying. "Mom! MOM!" The figure reaches out its left to grab his right. He cries out one more time, "MOM!" The figure then grabs unto the wrist of his right arm harshly, becoming flesh in its grasp. Soon the figure's face becomes his own, horrifying the boy with a wide, maniacal grin. Alphonse is picked apart once more.

Then it's all over. Alphonse's mind is left black, and he finds himself in shock, numbed. It is a moment before something clicks in his mind. Those memories were from the accident, when he was transmuted. When he saw _truth._

" _Al… when you got transmuted, didn't you see… that thing?"_

" _What do you mean, "That Thing"?"_

That "thing" that his brother referred to, Alphonse realized, was the portal of truth he had seen in his memories. He had seen the truth as his brother had. Even now, as the memories of the incident and all the details therein faded, never to be returned, he was sure of that. Did that mean he could do alchemy as his brother could now? He questioned. Without a transmutation circle?

Al was unable to ponder it further when he heard a voice calling out. He struggled to hear it in the darkness; it sounded so far away. It called out again, and he realized that it was calling out to him. It sounded like… who does it sound like? Eventually the darkness began to fade, and Alphonse tried to blink it away completely before he remembered that he didn't have eyes or eyelids to blink with anymore. When the darkness finally disappeared he saw that he was in a barren concrete grey room. His foggy mind also registered that he was lying on top of his own leg, and that one of his arms was bent in a way that would be impossible if he wasn't hollow. It was a moment before he registered the significance of that detail, of being hollow. He was in the armor again.

Eventually, the armored boy sat himself up, holding onto his head as he did so. It is less out of pain (he feels none, he remembers) than it is out of habit. The voice called out again, excited this time, and even though it sounded far away to his foggy mind, he knew it was coming from behind him. Finally a name comes to him to place on the voice. Elise? No! It was Elina! The last of the fog in his head cleared up, and the boy remembered the situation he is in currently. He and Tasha were transmuted and sent to another world, then they met a startled and terrified young girl, then were attacked and kidnapped. It took a few moments before he could properly attach an emotion to that, and when he did, he was unable to describe the flurry that he felt. Eventually, Alphonse shot up from the ground at the realization, startling the young girl beside him and forcing her to scramble away.

He turned to the girl sitting on the floor and staring at him with concern, himself still somewhat dazed as he asked a question. "Where… where are we?"

It was a moment before she spoke, and when she did her voice was shaky. "We're, uh, we're in a prison cell, I think." Her voice was cracking. It was then that Alphonse foggy mind noticed the redness of her eyes, and the stains on her cheeks. Has she been crying, he wondered?

"Al, are you okay?"

"Wha-what do you mean? Of course I'm okay." Alphonse lied, his voice just as shaky as hers. "I was only asleep. That's all!"

"Well, I just, I thought that you were dead…" She started saying, her voice cracking again.

"No! No! It was nothing like that; honest!" Alphonse was quick to say, waving his bound hands in the air. "I was just unconscious. It was nothing serious at all, okay?"

The young girl nodded, wiping her face in her arm with a sniffle before picking herself back up. Al sighed internally when it looked like she had calmed down. The girl was going through too much, he thought. _It would be best to get her out of here, to safety_. With that, he took full notice of their prison cell and found… that it was just as dull and grey as the room they had used for interrogation. It was to be expected; Al only really cared about the door, anyway. It was on the far right on the wall to his left, and shone in the dim light like his armor; it was obviously metal. A closer look revealed tracks at the top and bottom of door, indicating that it slid into the wall. That detail in turn indicated that the wall was hollow, and filled only with more metal and concrete. Turning his attention to the bindings that held his hands together revealed that they were made of metal as well. If Alphonse could have smiled he would have; both were perfect for alchemy. While the boy did not know if he would be able to use alchemy as his brother was able, by clapping his hands, he knew there was a chance if he had seen the truth. He didn't have to be Ed to know that was better than nothing. _And besides, it's not like it will hurt to try,_ he thought to himself.

Al turned to look at Elina with a fierceness in his glowing orbs that startled the girl. He nodded at her, and she hesitantly nodded back, confused. Alphonse was ready to escape. He moved over to the wall where the door was connected, and paused, as if taking in a deep breath. _Here goes nothing,_ he briefly thought. He clapped his hands and felt both fulfilling satisfaction and relief as he felt the energy of a transmutation begin to build up, a chemical formula in his mind. He paused for a moment before looking back at Elina, who held a raised brow and wide eyes. A concerning thought crossed his mind; the only alchemy that Elina ever saw was the alchemy took her brother away. If he wasn't careful, she might freak out or, even worse, faint.

"Elina, Can you make me a promise?" He asked, his voice soft yet strong, fully commanding her attention. "I need you to be strong. We're going to escape now."

"I… promise I'll be strong. But," She hesitated, eyebrows furrowing. "How can we escape from here without any pokémon?"

"Simple. We use alchemy." He said, speaking as if it really were that easy. He turned his attention to his bindings, absently taking notice of the girl's increased look of confusion. The energy of the transmutation had long since dissipated in the time he addressed Elina, so he clapped his hands once more. A second wave of relief fell over him as he once more felt the beginnings of a transmutation in his mind once again. Without wasting a second, Alphonse touched his fingers to the base of his cuffs and watched in awe at the display of light and lightning. In less than a second the bindings were shattered into a satisfying mess of metal scraps, the remains of which fell to the floor. The transmutation finished, Al rubbed the wrists of his armor, relishing in the freedom from the restraints.

"Hmm. Not bad for my first time." Al said, with no small amount of satisfaction evident in his voice. He turned back to Elina; the girl had stepped a few steps back away and was holding her hands to her face over her mouth, brows raised, and eyes as big as proverbial dinner plates. Alphonse thanked himself for prepping her. If he had jumped straight into it, like his brother would have, Elina would likely be far less composed than she already was. Still, she needed to be addressed.

"Are you okay?"

Elina simply starred at him before registering his question. "What-what was that, Al? What did you do? And why did it look like…" She paused, trailing off where Al expected her to ask about her brother. Her brows furrowed together for a quick second before raising once more in evident realization. "Was that… alchemy?" She nervously asked.

"Yup!" Al nodded, voice cheery. "It's how we're going to escape from our cell too." His voice lowered, becoming serious. "I'm going to make us a door with alchemy, Elina, and once we leave here we can't stop moving, alright?"

The poor girl darted her eyes back and forth between him and the remains of his cuffs on the ground, brows still raised high and forehead furrowed. Alphonse didn't blame her for her confused state, considering the events of the day. Elina eventually leveled her gaze at his face and nodded, slowly, in agreement. Alphonse internally sighed in relief. Still she had a look of worry on her face intermittent with the confusion.

"But, won't we be captured again?" She started saying, frowning. "Without any pokémon, they'll just-"

"That won't be a problem." Alphonse quickly interrupted. "We're going to find Tasha and the rest of the pokémon these goons have captive here. _And_ we're **not** going to be captured again. That I promise you."

With that, the armored boy turned his attention back to the wall and the door, taking a mental breath of confidence to reassure himself. Normally such brash actions, to transmute whatever and make a run for it while "sticking it" to their captors, was something his brother would usually do. His brother wasn't here, though, and as much as he hated that fact he had to accept it. Tasha and Elina were in dire need of his help, after all. So the boy steeled himself, clapped his hands, and placed them on the wall. Before his eyes the makings of a door appeared before him, awash in the blue glows and dancing lightning of a successful transmutation. Within seconds it was finished; it was as plain stark grey as the concrete stone it was formed from with gunmetal grey hinges. It was as simple as it needed to be, and with a light push, the transmuted door opened swiftly, revealing a brighter lit corridor before them.

xxxxx

It had taken quite a while for Edward to fully explain the situation to Armstrong. As the alchemist was spoke to the large man, every now and then Daryn would speak up to further elaborate where Edward was being vague. They recounted everything about the fight to him; being awoken by the ghost pokémon; Ed and Daryn tag-teaming it; Ed getting hit by the Confusion attack (much to the said alchemist's chagrin), and then capturing it with Fang. They even told as much as they could about the events beforehand. Rin sat in his lap, content to listen to the two converse to the large man as they sat at a repaired table. Ed's pichu had long since descended the teen's shoulder, now finishing a bowl filled with what looked like dried Oran berries. Looking at the corner, Daryn found his- _the_ zangoose, Fang, standing in against the wall, eyeing the major. Daryn turned his head away from her quickly and back to Ed, whom was nearing the end of the story, when she caught his attention. Once Edward finished recounting previous events, with arms crossed and eyes closed, Daryn noted the wide eyes and the white face of the stunned major.

"Uh, are you okay, mister?" Daryn asked with furrowed brows, worried.

"…Yes." Armstrong said after a moment, hand raised to his forehead, clenching it. "It's just quite a story, is all. Colonel Mustang had already filled me in on some of it, but I don't think I would have fully believed it. At least not until I saw one of these… pokémon, for myself. And to think that one of them can speak!"

"Yeah, we were kind of in the middle of figuring that out until you barged in major." Daryn flinched at Ed's bluntness. "If you left us alone, instead of wasting our time, we might have figured it out, too." He coldly added, narrowed eyes glaring at the large man.

"You wound me, Elric." The major replied with mock hurt. "Can't a fellow compatriot console one another for their loss?"

"Hell No!" Ed snapped back, before adding with clenched teeth, "But I appreciate the thought. So if that's _all_ you're here for—"

The large man brought up a single, meaty hand, interrupting Edward with a sudden and serious expression. "There is, actually, a more important matter that I am here for. Colonel Mustang has requested that I escort you to him as soon as it is convenient."

"What for?" The teen growled out, his eyes narrowing. "I just saw the bastard yesterday." Daryn silently scooted his chair away with his ralts clutching him tightly. "He's not going to give me another mission is he? I don't have the time _or_ patience to run anymore of his errands. Especially considering how this one is turning out."

"I assure you that it's nothing like that at all." The Major curtly replied. "All that he told me was that it was urgent, and that it regarded information that could help you find Isorfold."

Ed seemed to perk up at that, losing his stern expression in exchange for slightly widened eyes and a significantly smaller scowl. He quickly got up from his chair, gabbing the red coat that had been hanging off of it. Daryn thought that he had heard the teen mutter a "right" under his breath, before turning to the kitchen where the pichu, Chimera, was. As if that were a signal, the little pokémon came rushing over, jumping up and unto the teen's face. Daryn had to stifle a laugh as Ed almost toppled over, struggled to quickly regain his balance, and grabbed at the electric mouse, yanking it off his face. He looked at the pichu with a hard glare.

"Is this seriously going to be a thing with you?" He asked with an incredulous tone.

"Pi" Was the only reply that the pichu gave him, puffing up its face and putting its tiny arms on its waist.

Ed rolled his eyes before placing the pokémon on his shoulder. The teen looked over at Daryn, replacing his glare with a softer, yet still stern, stare. "We're leaving."

"Oh, uh, right." The young trainer sputtered, nodding. He looked down at the ralts in his lap, who had in turn looked up at him, head cocked to the side. "I'm sorry Rin, but it's time for us to go. You have to go back in your ball."

The green haired pokémon seemed downtrodden at that, yet he gave a small nod nonetheless and jumped off his lap down to the floor, where he turned around and looked back up at him. Daryn stood up from the chair and pulled out a pebble sized red and white ball from his belt; Ed and Armstrong began watching him closely. With a click of the frontward button, the ball enlarged in his hand, now the size of a baseball. Daryn held it forward towards Rin and it opened, pouring out a white light and washing over the small pokémon like liquid. In less than a second the ralts was soon converted into the same white light, which poured right back into the open pokéball as it snapped shut, and shrunk again. Daryn turned to face Ed and Armstrong after returning the once again tiny ball to his belt; he blushed at their slack jawed and wide eyed faces.

"What?" He asked, sheepishly.

"That was incredible…" The large man started to say, sputtering over the few words he managed. "How did you do that?"

Daryn raised an eyebrow. "The pokéball?" He looked down at his belt, where said object now rested, and narrowed his eyes, lips pursed. He never really thought about the objects. "I don't really know. That's just how they work, I guess."

"However it works can wait." Ed said, recovering quickly from the display and snapping Daryn away from his own wondering.

The young trainer nodded (he seemed to be doing that a lot this morning), and grabbed another red and white pokéball from his belt. He turned to face Fang, the zangoose, still in the corner of the room, and gulped. He held the ball out to her, pushing the button on its front and letting it resize in his hand. "Alright, Fang. It's time to…"

"What part of "don't push your luck" do you not understand, human?" The mongoose pokémon interrupted, growling. She glared at him with slit eyes under narrowed eyebrows, a fierce scowl on her white furred face.

"So it really can talk." Armstrong choked out, mouth open and wide-eyed again.

Daryn glanced back at the large man (not so large now that he was sitting), then at the ball in his hands and at the zangoose in the corner, and then back and forth again. "B-but, we're leaving and you-"

"Forget it." Edward abruptly interrupted. His tone was irritant and his were eyes narrowed sharply. "We can come back and get her later. Let's just get this over with already. The sooner we can get back to finding Isorfold, the better."

Daryn reluctantly nodded, putting the ball back on his belt and turning to join the group. The group of four soon left for the front door of the home and left, leaving the Zangoose to herself. Daryn shivered, wondering if leaving so hastily was a good idea. He wouldn't argue, though, and decided to look forward to meeting Mustang. Ed was right after all; the sooner they found Isorfold, the sooner his life would return to normal, and he could go home to his sister.

xxxxx

Arrow flew silently over the clustered houses and grey buildings of the neighborhood, searching out for the home that belonged to the two humans that he had heard Tasha call the Elric Brothers. It was a nondescript home that was only distinguishable for its bright red doors in comparison to the blacks and greens of the other houses. When he found it he was able to catch a brown box with wheels and protruding pipes speeding off into the distance from the corner of his eye. A human vehicle, he realized, called a car. He pondered it briefly before landing on the black tiled edge of the roof, searching out the alleyway where he had last met up with Tasha. After recognizing a particular metal cylinder (a trash can, if he remembered correctly) he confirmed that he was at the right spot, and flew down to the side of the house.

Arrow needed to meet up with Tasha. She needed to know about the… odd thing he saw when he was searching for Sirene. That, and he felt the need to apologize for leaving her to face Isorfold while he went chasing after a luxray he had mistaken for being Sirene. It was almost as odd as the other thing he had caught that night before for which he had come to speak; Arrow saw it leaving Isorfold's building from the other end and attempted to follow, but it disappeared in blue light (not unlike he had seen the humans conjure up) around a corner. Frustrated and confused at losing the pokémon, he had circled around to catch sight of it before giving up and returning to the building. When he had flown back, however, the building was completely empty, devoid of people and pokémon. Night had fallen by the time he had left, and with it brought more strange sights. The very same sights that he come to discuss today.

As he hovered around the house, checking for windows to see inside, Arrow began remember what he saw after his failed pursuit of the disappearing luxray. He had been wondering over a particularly rundown area of human settlements when he had caught the sounds of fighting and bright flashes of lightning from a nearby decrepit alleyway. When he swooped down to get a better look, there was an even greater flash of lightning, and with it there was an explosion. The explosion created a dust cloud that quickly covered the surrounding area along with the immediate sky above. Arrow had been forced to fly away from it and land on the flat roof of a more well-kept building in the neighborhood and watch, waiting for it to clear away. When it did, he had taken flight and arrived once again to the alleyway, this time able to clearly see what had happened. In a quite literal sense, there had been nothing; the alleyway where the scene had taken place had been all but _obliterated_. The walls on either side were destroyed completely, revealing dilapidated, empty interiors of the buildings within. The street of the alley itself had collapsed and fallen into a lower tunnel, littering it with rubble.

What was of real interest to him though were the occupants of the collapsed alley. There had been a man in a tan coat and black pants, seemingly untouched by the carnage save for a patch of red on the left side of his torso. On the other side, and much worse for wear, was a luxray that was unmistakably Sirene. Unlike the man that faced her, however, she was much worse for wear. Strewn haphazardly on the pile of rubble, from what Arrow saw, she had been leaking blood from everywhere while her back leg was twisted into a position that was definitely not natural. A mixture of disgust, curiosity, pity, and delight washed over him when he had seen the hated pokémon in such a state. He had wanted to swoop down and get a better grasp of the scene (or to finish Sirene off for himself), but he had found himself compelled to stay back and continue watching. The decision rewarded him when he saw two other individuals enter the scene. A shapely women and an obese man had seemingly taken the man off guard with their arrival when he whipped around with a look of surprise. The three humans conversed for a short moment before they charged at him to attack, exhibiting powers Arrow had never seen before. The man in the tan coat grabbed the fat one, and with very familiar blue lightning, somehow blew him apart. To Arrow's shock and awe, the fat man seemed to recover instantly from the other man's attack, leaping at him at the same time as the woman's fingers elongated into sharp long claws and began slicing at him. Soon the first man had conjured up more of that strange blue lightning and destroyed the alleyway even further. Another cloud of dust had been thrown up because of that, and Arrow was once again forced to leave.

Those events led to where he was now, circling the house to look for Tasha. Upon rediscovering the window he had first seen the shinx on his first visit, Arrow was torn from his remembering. Whereas he had hoped that the humans would once again leave Tasha behind so that they could speak, the pokémon he actually saw in the house was someone completely different. With its white fur, red markings, and pointed ears it could only be a zangoose, much to his surprise. Where had it come from?

Quickly dropping from the air to the ground underneath the window, Arrow suddenly found himself nervous, heart beating faster in his chest. This was not without good reason; of the pokémon considered especially dangerous, such as the luxray, the voltorb, and various dragon-types, his father had given him special warning to avoid zangoose. They were they only pokémon who could outmatch luxray like Sirene and go claw to talon with staraptors like his father. If the stories he was told about their territorial conflicts with the seviper clans were anything to go by, their battles were often deadly, fierce, and _bloody_.

To find one in alone and inside the house where Tasha should have been-in an _enclosed space_ , for that matter—put his instincts on edge. He still needed to see the shinx, however, and that overrode his natural feelings. There was also the fact that, from what he had seen from his quick glance, the zangoose was being peaceful. Peaceful in the home of the humans that Tasha had taken a liking to. Surely that had to count for something, right? Finally, there was also the possibility that, apparently being with the humans in question, the pokémon might itself know where Tasha was.

Steeling himself as best he could, Arrow flew out from under the windowsill and to the window itself, hesitantly knocking his beak on the glass. Instinct yelled at him, telling him to leave, to flee from the potential predator. Yet still he stayed, doing his best to ignore his innate feelings, and remained flapping in front of the window. He tapped once more on the glass to get the zangoose's attention.

The zangoose lazily opened a single eye, peering at him from its place in the corner. Its eyes opened completely once it noticed him, combining with a small scowl to form an expression of boredom. It opened its mouth to say something, but Arrow couldn't be hear it from behind the glass window. Arrow signaled as such, landing on the windowsill and pointing towards himself the best he could with a talon, shaking his head. The zangoose merely raised an eyebrow at him, dashing his hopes that it would understand his body language. He tried to be simpler by merely pointing to the side of the house, where he had once seen Tasha come out from, and motioned for the zangoose to come outside. This time the zangoose did seem to understand, yet instead of doing as he non-verbally asked, it merely narrowed its eyes before opening its mouth and closed it in rapid succession, trying to say something to him. Arrow could only guess that it was something along the lines of "I don't take orders."

Arrow sighed. He didn't know what he was expecting from the pokemon. Making a show of rolling his head (he couldn't quite roll his eyes as other pokémon could), the staravia flew away from the window. He made his way around the house and to the back where he last remembered Tasha appearing from. When he found the spot he found a door, one with some kind of flap at the bottom of it. Arrow landed in front of the flap and poked his peak at it, knocking it gently back and forth. It was a tight squeeze, but Arrow managed to get himself through the hole that the flap covered. He flapped his wings and took flight as soon as he was inside the house, being extra mindful and deliberate in his movements as he navigated the human residence. There were wooden structures and appliances in every odd place making it difficult for the bird pokémon, but he was able to keep himself from crashing nonetheless. Soon he made it to the room the zangoose was in, and landed on a nearby table. All the while, the zangoose had watched with bemused interest.

Once he was settled onto the table and able to properly confront the pokémon who most definitely had the advantage over him at the moment, Arrow looked it over with darting eyes, sizing it up. The zangoose returned the analyzing stare, face unchanging. Arrow continued to stare, almost challenging the creature, and an awkward silence began between the two.

"You know," The zangoose started, breaking the unbearable silence after a long moment. Arrow noted the feminine tone of its voice. "It's a pretty stupid idea to leave yourself alone in an enclosed space with someone like myself, of my kind, bird." Her half-smile became a predatory grin.

Arrow did his best to ignore it and decided to get straight to the point. He hoped she would be civil. "I'm actually looking for someone here. Perhaps you've seen her? She stayed in this house with the humans who owned it. She's a shinx, about this tall." He held up his right wing just below the middle of his torso. "Her name is Tasha."

The zangoose's predatory grin widened, showing him a set of sharpened fangs. "How do you know I didn't kill her?"

Arrow narrowed his eyes as best he could, tilting his head down ever-so-slightly to turn his expression dangerous. "Because if you did," He started, voice dark and low, "I would be tearing you apart, limb from limb."

Her grin became wider, unnerving, and she held up one of her purple claws. It shone from the sunlight coming in through a nearby window. Arrow didn't falter at the gesture; he countered with a glare and positioned himself so that his own sharp beak would shine just as well. Neither of them moved for several minutes, a tension forming between them. She was challenging him, and he her, trying to goad one another into an attack. Arrow's body was tense, and as he watched the zangoose he saw her shaking subtly in anticipation. The tension continued until the zangoose suddenly broke out into a fit of laughter, holding her stomach and throwing her head back. He started at the display, taking a step back and tilting his head to the side.

"You've got guts, bird. I like that." She said, returning to her half bored expression and turning away from him to return to her corner. "To answer your question, no, I haven't seen hide nor hair of your little shinx friend."

"I… see." Arrow said, eyes downcast. That information was distressing. _Although_ … He looked back up to her, a new hope rising within him. "Maybe you've seen the human she was travelling with?" He asked, hoping to the edge of the table to close the distance between them. "He wears a suit of armor that looks like an aggron? He's _extremely_ hard to miss."

"Nope. Haven't seen that one either."

Hopes crushed. Now what was he to do? Tasha was missing, streets were exploding, and there was no sign of either the mad human, Isorfold, or the luxray, Sirene. Arrow was evidently speaking out loud, for at the mention of Sirene the zangoose was asking him whom he was talking about, snapping him from his thoughts.

"It's a long story." Arrow said with distaste. "To put it simply, she's somebody who has a lot of beatings coming her way. She worked for the human that brought us here, Isorfold."

The zangoose gave him an odd look, eyebrow raised. She didn't say anything for a moment however, and Arrow began to feel uncomfortable.

"What?" He asked, flustered.

"The human who lives here," She began, frowning, "short, with blond hair. He told an interesting story that this Isorfold to some freaky-as-hell bald man." She paused, cupping her furred chin with a claw, eyes looking to the side. "Actually now that I think about it, he mentioned your shinx friend and this armored human of yours too."

In an instant, Arrow was practically in her face, his beak almost touching her nose. "What did he say!?"

The zangoose pushed him away none to gently. "Sorry." She began, her tone conveying anything but remorse. "But I don't remember. I wasn't really paying any attention. I also didn't care."

Arrow flew back unto the table, irritated and crestfallen (but mostly irritated). He rubbed his face with a wing, feeling very sorry for the humans that were stuck with the pokemon. _I'm back to square one,_ he thought, turning away from the zangoose and preparing to fly out of the house. He was just about to beat his wings and leave when the zangoose spoke up again.

"Although…" She trailed off, closing her eyes and crossing her arms. "If you want to find your shinx friend, I'd stick around these humans." She continued, tone begrudging. "The ones that were here, they're looking for that guy you mentioned, Isorfold something-or-other. If you hang around them, or follow them, they might lead you to your friend."

Arrow stared at the zangoose for a long moment, beak open and eyes wide. Eventually he composed himself after the pokémon shot him an incredulous look. "Thank you." He almost sputtered, truly grateful.

"And I really don't care." She added.

Arrow almost chuckled at that. He looked away from the pokemon, staring out the window and past the houses to see the early sky. He took a deep breath, and exhaled. Strange events were happening all over. Everyone, both enemy and ally, were suddenly going missing. There were eerie blue lights, humans with super powers, and collapsing streets. _Things are getting very weird now_ , he thought. It seemed the only lead to the answers he needed was exactly what the zangoose had suggested. Follow the humans.

xxxxx

This was the second time that Daryn had found himself in front the Eastern Headquaters, at least their gates. The military base was just as imposing as the first time he laid eyes on it. A long walk on paved brick led to a four story building framed by the green flags of Amestris. Bleached white concrete made the front building's outer layer. On either side of the main bulding were longer, shorter buildings built in the same manor. At the very back, like horns reaching to the sky, were white concrete towers. The walkway was surrounded by the longer buildings, leaving only one way forward and into the larger main building and its grand staircase.

Just like the first time the young trainer was brought here, Daryn found himself completely uncomfortable. The astute presence of a military body that was so casually integrated into this world, Amestris, was something that he had only seen from the illegal team organizations like Team Rocket or Team Galactic. Even then, he was only partially aware through what he had seen on TV.

The drive that it took to get to the military command center was considerably short compared to when he came there with Ed last. That was probably because the trip was done by car versus by feet. It was something that Daryn found himself thankful for. It wasn't that the young trainer found Armstrong dislikable. On the contrary, he actually quite liked him. It was just that he found the large man… imposing. Perhaps it had to do with how the man had literally barged in into Edward's house, stripped and flexed for all those present. Either way, he was glad to be at the military base (despite how uncomfortable it made him) in short time.

The car that the major had drove them in, much like the man himself, had taken him completely off guard. It was for different reasons however. The car that he had been driven in was the spitting image of the old cars that he had seen on a trip to a museum once. They were the kind of cars that were developed shortly after the _invention_ of the automobile in the first place. The sight of the vehicle had reminded him of the restaurant menus on his first day in this world; they were not laminated where all modern menus were. The observation left him with a lot of questions and thoughts. What was Amestris' time period? How much technology was there? Maybe it was a mix; the alchemy and the fake limbs certainly seemed advanced.

It was when the car came to a stop that he had been snapped out of his thoughts. Edward, who had been sitting in the back seats and had been staring off into the distance for the entirety of the trip, mumbled something about "Mustang" and "cocky." He was also sure there were a few swears too. As Ed unbuckled his seat the teen grabbed a rather sickly looking pichu, carefully placing the pokémon alongside his red coat under and cradled in his arm. Before he could make a comment about it, Daryn was given a look from him that made him immediately made him gulp it down. As for the teen's pokémon, Daryn could only guess that the ride did not sit well with it. Quickly he followed Ed's example, unbuckling his own seatbelt (barely more than a strap) and followed the young man outside the car door, where Armstrong held it open on a sidewalk.

There was a couple waiting for them when they got out, but from the uniforms that they wore and the way they held themselves, Daryn doubted they were romantic. Of the two, Daryn recognized only one with wide eyes. Dressed in that same royal blue coat that Armstrong was wearing was Ms. Hawkeye, the woman he met from before. Just as he last saw her, she was holding herself in a friendly way, but her stance was rigid and her hand was always near the holster on her hip, poised to attack at a moment's notice. Directly beside her was somebody that Daryn had never seen before. He too wore the blue military uniform, but he stood less tense than the woman beside him, and he sported black hair and charcoal eyes versus the blonde and blue of his companion.

When the man saw the group he grinned, raising his head slightly to look at them properly. Edward was quick to swear.

"What the hell do you want, Mustang?" Daryn flinched at the venomous tone in Ed's voice. "We're supposed to be catching Isorfold right now. We don't have time to run around and do more of your _errands_. And you sent the Major too? What the _hell_? You know you could have just called me right?" The red coated young man was now directly in the other man's (Mustang's) face, yelling with a contorted expression.

Mustang didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed, his face unchanging. In fact, Daryn balked when the man's smirk grew wider shortly after. "Is that so?" He asked to no one in particular, voice haughty. "I thought you'd appreciate the Major's company, Edward. He's a very empathetic man; I couldn't think of anyone better to approach you in your state of depression."

" _Screw you!_ " Ed snapped back through clenched teeth, his face beat red.

Mustang continued unhindered by the retort. "As for Isorfold, just where were you going off to find him? Did you somehow gain a new lead overnight, or were you just going go trouncing about until you found him by luck? Do you _really_ know where to go?"

Edward was sent stuttering and stepped back a step. Daryn struggled to keep himself from laughing at the display as Edward audibly ground his teeth at Mustang. Thinking about it, Daryn found that what the man said was true. _He_ certainly didn't know where to find Isorfold, and if his reaction was anything to go by, neither did Edward. Eventually Edward calmed down, huffing in defeat.

"Alright, Mustang," The young man growled, "What have you found?"

Mustang smiled. "Much better. Now then, you probably knew that the alchemist's notes were encoded, correct?"

Edward nodded; Daryn frowned. "Encoded? Why were his notes encoded?"

"We alchemists have a motto. _Be thou for the people_. It means exactly what you think it means. That said, an alchemist's research is sensitive, and dangerous in anyone else's hands. So we encode our notes so that only we, and maybe other alchemists, can understand them." Ed answered without looking at the other teen, his tone matter-of-factly. "I only got a quick look through his notes, but it didn't look too heavily encoded. I don't think Isorfold tried too hard to hide anything."

"You're correct, Fullmetal. His notes were far from difficult to decode and understand. At this point in time, at least." Mustang continued, nodding. "So far they seem to be written as a cross between personal journal entries and the notes of an animal researcher. He writes vague descriptions of exotic animals that he "discovers" day to day, obviously the pokémon." Mustang lost his smirk and narrowed his eyebrows. "What's concerning is the number of injuries he describes in conjunction. Either he's describing failed transmutations, or that his early transmutations were harmful, maybe even fatal, for the pokémon involved even when they were successful. And from I've decoded so far, he's been at this for a while."

Daryn shuttered at that. He may not have known what alchemy really was, but if Mustang's description was any indication, he was feeling increasingly lucky to be alive. Then he thought of the pokémon the mad scientist must have gone through before he finally was successful, and shuttered again. Before he could ask with a pale face about what happened to those pokémon, however, Mustang had already moved on. At the very least, Edward himself looked just as perturbed; his face had changed to bear a larger scowl, narrowed eyebrows, and pinprick, angry irises.

"In the sections shortly before or after those descriptions, Isorfold describes off-handedly where he was at the time. Mentions of "breath taking star lights" and "high suns" are obviously times of the day, but I'm also certain that he's describing the alchemic process themselves. More importantly, there are specific mentions of "home's in the cold" and "mountains that touch the sky." This could very well be more alchemic metaphor, but it's very obscure and counter to the ease of the notes if that's the case." Here Mustang began smirking again, and Dryn noticed that Edward became more focused on the man before them. Even Armstrong, who had been standing some distance behind them, stepped closer with interest.

"More than likely," Mustang continued with a returned smirk, "he's referring less to the _process_ than he is to the _place_. It would be odd otherwise. After all, if I were Isorfold, studying this particular field of transportation alchemy, why use such terms? "Home in the cold" would be far less indicative of the pokemon's origins than it would be if he used "home away from home." There's only one place with a mountain range that "touches the sky" and cold weather at all times of the year…"

"And that's the north." Edward finished for him without missing a beat. The young man turned to Daryn quickly, telling him that it was time get moving. Daryn nodded, but before the two could actually get moving, they were stopped by the towering figure of Major Armstrong standing in their way.

"And just where do you think you're going, Fullmetal? We're not done here yet. There is still more that needs to be discussed."

Ed's face twisted in rage; his eyes narrowed, his nostrils flared, and his mouth turned into a snarl. Daryn took a step back, swallowing loudly. "And why the hell not?! I've got my lead, _you've_ got your job, and the sooner we get on them the sooner they'll be finished!"

"There's more to it than just that!" The older man yelled back, quickly losing the smirk he had previously maintained. Just as quickly, however, he relaxed. His shoulders slumped, and an arm fell dumbly to his side, the other clinching his eyebrows as he let out a single sigh.

Daryn and Edward, and to some extent Armstrong, started at the sudden display. Something had clearly upset the man, Daryn realized. Something important. After a brief moment of silence, Daryn was the first to ask. "Uhh sir?" He started, tentatively. "Did something… bad happen?"

The colonel started, turning and looking at Daryn with wide eyes as if noticing him for the first time. "You must be Daryn, right? I don't believe we've met properly." He said, extending out a hand to shake; the young trainer gladly accepted it. Daryn blinked at the texture he felt in his hands, a gritty, sand-paper like texture mixed with cotton, and he looked down to examine them closer. The man was wearing a pair of white gloves unlike the pair that Edward wore to conceal his prosthetic that sported an intricately designed circle (probably alchemy related, he thought) in red.

The man nodded once after retracting the handshake. "I'm Colonel Roy Mustang. No doubt Fullmetal here has told you absolute falsehoods about me. It would be in your best interest to forget them." Daryn heard the teen in question curse under his breath from behind him. "To answer your question," he continued, promptly ignoring the red coated young man. "Yes, something did happen. Two things specifically. Both last night, and probably at the same time."

Daryn narrowed his brows and looked at Ed, who looked back with the same expression. "Which one is worse?" Ed asked impatiently after the two of them returned their attention to the Colonel.

"Both." He answered gravely.

"We've received reports from our civilian sources that a battle of sorts took place a short distance away from Isorfold's last known residence." The major continued for Mustang, gathering the attention of the group. "The area where the battle took place was an alleyway before, but is now nothing more than collapsed rubble. Based on the reports, it took place between a black and blue cat chimera." The major paused, looking down at the ground before closing his eyes. "And a man wearing black pants and a tan coat, with an x-shaped scar across his forehead. Scar."

At that, Daryn saw Ed's eyes widen immediately. An air of intensity overcame the group, of that Daryn was sure despite his confusion as everyone else went completely quiet. Who was Scar? And what did he mean by a blue and black cat chimera? Daryn voiced the questions quickly forming in his mind. "Um… who's Scar?"

"He's an Ishvallan and a murderer." Ed answered darkly, not looking at the teen.

"Oh." Daryn dumbly replied. _Wait,_ _ **what?**_

"And," Mustang continued, "He targets state alchemists like Edward and I. He usually wins. The problem here is that Isorfold never received a state license. Why would he target the man or the pokémon his transmutations have brought?"

Daryn frowned. Someone was going to have to explain to him precisely what they were talking about sooner or later. This conversation was beginning to go over his head.

"Could it be a random encounter perhaps?" Armstrong questioned with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

The colonel hummed, rubbing his face with a gloved hand. "It's a possibility, although somehow I doubt it. It doesn't really matter now. Scar opposes alchemists; it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine him going after Isorfold, especially since he'll likely think the pokémon are chimera."

And there was yet another word he didn't understand. Daryn's eye twitched and his hands clenched. It was time to get answers, never mind waiting. Before he could ask, however, he was preemptively interrupted by Edward who yelled out in frustration, causing Daryn and the major to flinch, while the colonel looked at him with widened eyes.

"Damnit! First Isorfold and now this? Does somebody hate me or something?" He pulled his hair through his fingers and looked at the colonel with puckered eyebrows and a thin frown. "What else was there? Was anybody killed?"

The colonel shook his head, causing most of the group to let out varying degrees of relieved sighs, with Edward's being the most audible. "Fortunately no. Preliminary examinations report no bodies in the vicinity. There was, however, a lot of blood amongst the rubble. Apparently, Scar destroyed the ground and exposed an underground sewer. Again. So it's likely that either he or the chimera fled when the opportunity presented itself. Not without injury, of course."

Daryn narrowed his eyes. Didn't the colonel mention another event happening that night? "Wait, you said that there was something else too. What was it?"

Colonel Mustang's frown deepened. "Right." He sighed. "One of the pokémon we captured earlier this week… turns out it escaped before it could be transferred to the Research and Development Branch. Another pokémon apparently broke in and freed it while it momentarily unguarded."

"A pokémon? Which one was it? What did it look like?" Daryn interrupted, asking rapidly. This was his only chance to get some answers once and for all! "And what's an Ishvallan? Or a chimera for that matter? You guys keep using that word like it's the word for pokémon. And what about all this alchemy stuff. Can you guys _please_ explain everything?"

Mustang blinked, looking back and forth between Ed and Major Armstrong, both of whom just shrugged. Eventually the man cleared his throat and regarded the young trainer to answer himself. "The pokémon that escaped was dark green and tan in color. It could also sprout fire from its back. As for the one that broke it out, we don't know. All we know is that the cage being used to contain the pokemon was cut open by something with unnaturally sharp claws. To answer your other questions-"

"I'll give you an explanation later, Daryn." Ed said, interrupting the colonel (whom now bore an irritated expression at being interrupted so often). "It'll take forever, and we don't have that at the moment."

"Oh. Okay then." Daryn said, blinking. He turned his thoughts to the pokémon that the colonel earlier described, and his eyes widened. The description that he had given perfectly matched the fire-type pokémon called typhlosion. With that realization Daryn remembered seeing a news report with his parents about one that went missing from its trainer. It had happened a little over a week ago, and it was said that the pokémon had disappeared… in a show of blue lightning. _How long has this been going on,_ He wondered?

" _Great_. So we're exactly back to square one then." Edward said in an irritated huff, tearing Daryn back to reality. "Well, at least we have an idea where that bastard is going. Still, all this in one night? What the hell has been happening lately?"

"Anyway," Mustang began with a calm tone again, taking back everyone else's attention, "Now that we have Scar lurking out and about, it's too dangerous to have you going alone, Fullmetal." He gestured a hand over to Armstrong, who was resting his hands on his hips in a pose. For a brief moment, Daryn swore he saw the man _sparkling_ again. "I've asked the major here to keep you boys' company, as an impromptu bodyguard."

Ed's reaction was immediate. "What!? No! No, that's not necessary. I mean, the major's probably _really_ busy anyway! And we can take care of ourselves just fine!"

The Colonel leaned over Edward and Daryn, and the young trainer found himself forced to take a step back. Mustang bore an almost evil look across his face as he looked straight at the older teen, his charcoal eyes boring into him. "Now now, Fullmetal. Major Armstrong informed me that he had plenty of free time, in fact. He even volunteered. As for your safety; I don't think I need to remind you how Scar completely _trounced_ you last time you two fought. Of course, I'll understand if you want to go alone and get yourself killed, but I'll have to get you court martialed if that's what you decide to do. You wouldn't want that, _would_ you?"

With a glare and groan of frustration that Daryn couldn't help but sympathize with, Edward Elric relented.

xxxxx

Mustang stood there, outside the stone wall of the Eastern HQ's boundary, watching the group depart in the black buggy they had driven to him in. He felt some small level of satisfaction. For as much dislike he managed to make the Fullmetal feel (always an achievement in its own way), there was no doubt that he had been directionless. That was his job as the Fullmetal Alchemist's boss; give him the proper direction that he needed (and work he didn't feel like doing). Yet he also felt disappointed in himself; watching the dark spec of a car disappear into the distance with a goal, he couldn't help but think of his own, and how little progress he had made on it. That tidbit about Isorfold was all that he could offer as lead; he had been unable to discover anything else as of yet.

Then there were the incidents the night before. Between losing the pokémon that had been earlier captured, and the sudden appearance of Scar, it was exactly as Edward had said. Back to square one. Mustang scratched his chin, looking down at and past the concrete. Still, as long as he had the mad alchemist's notes there was still hope. There was still much to decode; many secrets still hidden away for his prying eyes to decipher. The colonel put his hands into his coat and turned around, steeling himself and ready to return to his office. He was stopped before he could begin the trek back to his office when his lieutenant spoke aloud.

"I'm surprised sir." She said in a tone belaying anything but.

Mustang turned around to face the woman, eyes wide with a single raised brow. "About what, Lieutenant?"

"You didn't confiscate the pokémon Ed was carrying. It could have made up for our previous loss. He wasn't exactly hiding it."

Mustang hummed to himself, considering the lieutenant's words. In honesty, the thought had not occurred to him once throughout their conversation. As he remembered, he realized that Hawkeye was right. The pokémon she had spoken of was indeed present; Fullmetal had been holding the creature under his arm, where it looked almost sickly since leaving the car. Perhaps it had gotten motion sickness? Also, and more importantly, why hadn't he taken the pokémon? Mustang smirked, turning around and restarting his walk towards the Eastern Command building. He waved his arm, motioning for the lieutenant to follow. It was probably best that he let Ed keep the pokémon for now, he said as much to her.

"Who knows?" He said with a tone of amusement. "Maybe it'll come in handy for him in the future."

xxxxx

The rocket grunt fell to the ground instantly, his face battered and bruised. His fall brought about a soft, wet thumping noise before a figure; his unconscious face landing in front of a boot. A moment passed, and the foot stepped over and past the grunt's knocked out body, over his head, and followed by the other as the figure that possessed the limbs continued forward. He was soon followed by a set of light orange, stumpy legs with clawed and scaled feet.

The two vastly differing figures walked a short distance past the defeated grunt and stopped at a rocky cliff face. The first figure wore a dark blue set of pants and a vested shirt with dark orange highlights. Draped across his shoulders, buckled by a silver chain, and drooping past his knees was a black cape with a crimson interior. The overall effect was a regal, if imposing, image. Joining the figure was a rotund, scaled, dragon-like pokémon with webbed wings the color of emerald. Its face was soft with large, brown eyes and a rounded snout; whisker like antennae protruded from its head just below a single, stubby horn.

The pokémon gave a light growl at the man, who merely smiled back and patted its shoulder. It seemed to calm down at that and settled itself a short distance away from him. The man smiled once more before twisting his neck such that a small pop could be heard, and regarded the cliff face before him. A moment passed and he then spread his hands outward onto the rock, feeling about and mumbling quiet and indistinguishable words to himself. Eventually, he found a purchase on a jutting piece of stone, and with a breath of satisfaction, he pulled.

Nothing happened.

He groaned aloud, palming his face before slowly stepping backwards an approximate foot so as to get a properly observe the cliff face once more. His dragon partner. He looked back, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish smile before looking back at the rock wall, eyes narrowed and mouth a-scowl once more.

"I know my tip off was right. That grunt confirmed it." He scratched his chin, thinking out loud to the pokémon beside him. "After all, what's the point in stationing a guard if there isn't a door for him to guard in the first place?" He paused, eyes searching for something standing out amongst the jagged wall of rock. "Let's have another look, Dragonite."

The dragonite nodded and the two repeated a groping session of the rock. For the first few minutes, it was a repeat of the last, with both human and pokémon growing steadily more irritated. They searched high and low; at the base of the wall and on top of one another's shoulders as far as they could reach. Still they found nothing that they were looking for - until the man found a loose slab of rock on the cliff face and smiled. The dragon pokémon smiled a slightly more predatory smile with him, bearing just the barest glimpse of a fang here or there, all the while maintaining the perpetually jolly expression on its face. It began stepping back as the man pulled.

The rock he pulled on slid out, revealing a large rod of black metal connecting the back of the rock to the wall it originated from. The man cast a glance between dragonite and the rock, before letting go and stepping back quickly himself. The rigged rock quickly sprang back to its position on the cliff-face with a ringing clatter. The end result of the action was a series of metal _clunks_ and _clanks_ and the sound of gears whirring together. There was a low click, and a large section of rock slowly slid down into the ground. The two beings took a look inside the revealed cave entrance where slab had been, and they saw a concrete hallway leading to a set of metal doors.

There was most likely an elevator behind those doors, the man thought to himself with a mad smile. A quick glance at his partner revealed that the dragon pokémon was bearing an expression that mirrored his own. "Well, buddy," He began, voice laden with confidence, "Let's see how well these Rockets handle _Lance the Dragon Champion._ "

xxxxx

 _It is time to strike down on your oppressors. Do not hesitate in your actions, for they will only serve to undermine your goals. Especially when you come face to face with unspeakable horrors._

 _Next Time_

 _Cruel Discovery_


	5. Cruel Discovery

_Cruel Discovery_

xxxxx

There was a siren in the air. A blaring alarm that rang out and reverberated in the halls, offices, chambers, and otherwise unspecified rooms throughout the facility. Doors from all sides and from hallways opened all at once as a mass of the costumed thugs, the grunts of Team Rocket, dropped their business and came streaming out. They stampeded, running down the corridors like a flood of black cloth to find the source of the alarm. Some cursed, some were excited, and some were even yawning in spite of (or because of) the sudden commotion. But they all reached for the stored pokémon on their belts simultaneously, ready and eager for a fight.

" _Prisoner Escape in Sector D14! Prisoner Escape in Sector D14! This is not a drill. We repeat, this is not a drill. All Team Rocket Personnel in Sector_ _ **D13**_ _are to head to Sector_ _ **D14**_ _and_ _ **recapture the prisoner**_ _!"_ A garbled, electronic voice echoed out, emanating from black boxes in the top corners of the grey ceilings.

The crowd swelled, moving as directed by authority voice. They ran as fast as they could, making right and left turns until they came to a large metal door with " **D14** " emboldened across it. A moment passed, and as one they took slow steps forward before stopping once more. The crowd waited with apprehensive tension for anything that might be on the other side; waiting for the door to slide open. Anxious to respond… or attack.

What happened next caught the grunts off guard entirely. Suddenly, the door began to glow a bright blue hue and with it came a barely audible hum, like the ring of metal striking metal. Then there were flashes of lightning, also blue, and an accompanied sound akin to the tearing of fabric. Then the display ended... as the metal sliding door _shattered_ into thousands of tiny flakes, showering over flinching grunts. An imposing metal suit was revealed standing behind it, it's appearance startling the crowd back a few various steps.

The armored boy wasted no time in taking advantage of the grunts stupefied delay. He charged at them, metal steps clanking, and slammed a metal fist into the first person he saw. The next grunt behind the toppling man got a kick in the gut, flinging him into another grunt behind him. Yet another to the grunt's left, barely getting a step away from Alphonse, received a slam from his armored forearm. Al wasn't done there, continuing his flurry of motion and knocking down everyone in his path. A kick there, a punch here, and even a complete flip of another one of the grunts; it was almost too easy, Alphonse thought.

Then, as if in response to that thought, a large, purple rat-like creature soared over the crowd, aimed at Alphonse. He briefly presumed that it belonged to someone in the crowd, and that it was likely a pokémon as well, noting its odd appearance. The armored teen was not so easily surprised by the jumping rat pokémon, however. Al dodged and caught it by its hind leg, startling the poor creature, and threw it at a grunt to his right, who was attempting (unsuccessfully) to sneak up on him. The pokémon choked out a sound, something like "ratata," as it hit the grunt. The grunt who took the blow, right into his chest, wheezed and collapsed to the ground.

Amongst the display, a space slowly grew around the fighting armored teen. Seeing that they were unable to take the on the young alchemist, half the grunts took another step back, while the other half gulped. It was then that a confident voice called out, catching Alphonse's attention as well as the crowd's and temporarily halting the action.

"Move aside people!" The voice yelled, somewhere down the corridor. "Go Hitmonlee!"

The crowd parted in two as the voice commanded, revealing a rather confident looking young man in a white uniform version of the grunts about, complete with the same large red R on the front. He threw out a red and white ball, where it split in middle air. The armored alchemist watched in awe as light like an incandescent liquid poured out and condensed into a form. When the light cleared and the form became clear, Al could only gawk at its absurdity. It had a human like figure, but appeared to be missing its head. Or rather, it had a head, but it was fused with the torso and was missing a nose and a mouth. Its arms and legs were thin, and appeared to be wrapped in bandages (at least he thought they were bandages) with 3 digit hands and feet at the ends. Combined with its brown coloring, the entire… thing looked "freaky-as-hell," as is brother would put it.

"Hitmonlee, use Brick Break!" Yelled the cocky thug, snapping Alphonse out of his stupor. The… hitmonlee's fist began to glow a bright yellow light and it rushed towards the armored boy. In that moment, Alphonse suddenly found himself brought back to his childhood, training with their teacher. He was sparring with his brother while trying to memorize her words about the flow of power, as his brother charged headlong into him. The hitmonlee became Ed to him in that instance, impatiently making the first strike.

As he always did when this happened, Alphonse change his position and spread his arms such that his right stuck out farthest and his left stayed close to his body. When the pokémon tried to strike at him he sidestepped, letting it stumble from lack of resistance. Quickly, Alphonse kicked out one of its legs from beneath and caught its right arm as it began to fall. Using the new found leverage, Al flung the pokémon around himself, throwing it at the nearest wall to his right.

"Lee?" The pokémon managed to squeak out in confusion before it crashed. In a stupor much like the armored alchemist had been in when he saw the creature, the pokémon stumbled backwards after picking itself up. Acting quick, Alphonse clapped his hands and slammed them onto the floor before the hitmonlee, conjuring stone tentacles out of blue lightning and white glow that wrapped themselves around the wide-eyed pokémon. Soon the display faded, and the tentacles that were so active before became solid and immobile. The pokémon was trapped.

The pokémon had what was perhaps the most shocked expression the young alchemist had ever seen, if only because of its unique features. Al turned back toward the group of goons and saw similar expressions on theme as well. Standing up to the full height his armor body gave and glowering downwards at them, Alphonse tried to be as intimidating as possible. From the way he saw their eyes widened further and mouths open wider, he succeeded.

"I'm only going to ask this once." The armored boy began in his best growl. "Where are the pokémon that you've stolen?"

Some of the grunts in crowd he could see were shaking, and others were sweating visibly; he heard the sound of several people gulping. None of them moved beyond that, however, and none spoke. Mentally sighing, Alphonse clapped his hands once more and placed his left hand on the wall beside him, producing a metal spear in a deliberately slow transmutation. This caused the crowd to shuffle back, while some grunts fled all together, all in greater fear.

" _Well?"_ He growled again.

The white uniformed member from earlier made a quiet grunt, drawing Al's attention, and pointed a shaking finger down a left-hand corner.

"I-it's down that way. The pokémon. They're in Area D12. You can't miss it." He said with a cracking voice, pathetically.

Alphonse nodded before he threw his spear up into the air. The crowd watched as it spun up and then back down where it was caught in the armor's hands. He held it pointed at them, and with satisfaction he saw them all flinch simultaneously.

" _Now leave!"_

They wasted no time doing exactly that, scrambling to their feet and pouring out en masse out of the exits of the corridor. As the last remaining grunt ran dumbly to the end of the hall, Alphonse let out a long mental sigh. With the hall empty (save for the unconscious thugs and the restrained pokémon) he could finally give up the menacing façade. He almost collapsed to the floor, instead propping himself against a nearby wall. How his brother managed was beyond him; being menacing un-provoked was far harder than it looked, he thought. Then again, his brother was more suited to the role in the first place.

His brother. Where would he be right now? Was he panicking? Raging? Had he killed someone, perhaps Isorfold? Alphonse hit himself in the head, producing a metallic echo. There was no pain to be had in the action; the armored boy felt none. He needed to snap his thoughts away from his brother though, for they would only bring painful thoughts and lines of wonder. He had a job to do at the moment anyway.

Lifting himself off the wall, Alphonse walked with clanking steps back to the door he had alchemically deconstructed. With both hands cupped around his face (more out of habit then out of purpose), he yelled out with a tone of hidden worry. "It's all clear now! You can come on out, Elina!"

It was a moment before the girl in question poked he head out of the door frame, looking out in marvel with widened eyes at the scene about him. "Wow" She said, almost quietly. "You really did a number on these guys."

Alphonse scratched the back of his helmeted head sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I did, huh."

Elina's eyebrows narrowed downwards. "Will they be alright?" She asked, concern in her tone evident to the armored alchemist.

"They should be." Al started to say, before one of the unconscious grunts on the floor began moaning. If he had cheeks, they would be reddening. Al waved his hands about as Elina's eyes widened. "I didn't do anything too serious! They're just knocked out. That's all, really!"

Elina looked down at the unconscious bodies strewn about and back then back at Alphonse, holding arms close to herself and with upturned eyebrows. After a moment, she nodded with what Al could not doubt as anything but reluctance. "Well, if you say so. They're not really good guys, so I guess it's okay."

The armored boy would have laughed, but instead he turned to a hallway on his left, deciding to move on from the topic. It was the direction that the white-uniformed thug had earlier pointed out, and where Tasha probably was. He turned back to Elina, straightening his posture to stand tall, and pointed down the hallway.

"The pokémon are down that way, Elina. Follow me." He said, catching the girl's attention away from the floor.

She followed his pointing arm, and her expression hardened. Her brows narrowed, eyes seemingly became shaper, and her earlier concerned frown became one that was more clearly resolute. Like Alphonse had earlier, she brought herself up higher, then set her arms to her sides and balled up her hands into fists. With another nod, she began walking down the hallway, with the Alphonse following soon after.

 _Don't worry Tasha. I'm coming for you._

xxxxx

For the umpteenth time since my conversation with the espeon, I quietly groaned. I just couldn't get any sleep here. It did not matter how I positioned myself on the hard floor, I could not rest here in this concrete prison. The floor was cold, and with no bedding of any kind I was constantly left lying on the bones of my legs or my sides, and then they'd dig into some other part of my body. It was more than just physically uncomfortable, though. There was a mental discomfort too. I wasn't so sure about Ari's plan to escape. It seemed solid, but it hinged on the fact that I couldn't get caught grabbing the (literal) keys to our freedom. Ari made it clear that I simply wasn't going to be caught. Still, I wondered and worried. These humans were capable of blocking Ari's psychic powers; would they do the same to me? Or would she be beaten as punishment? It was obvious that Ari did not become so disheveled from being alone in a cell.

There was more that I wondered about, beyond that. What if we came across more humans once we got out? Obviously, we would either have to fight back or run, and I felt like that the former was more likely to happen then the latter; there was more of them than us. Was it in me to attack a human I wondered? I remembered my last fight before I came here, and the attack I used which almost… killed another pokémon. Maybe it was just because it was a battle, and I got carried away. And maybe the munchlax, Boro, who took the attack would have been alright. It was the memory of drawing blood, and his limp form in my memory, that horrified me beyond anything else. It left a bad taste in my mouth... literally too. It didn't stop me completely from fighting when I tried to defend Al and Elina against that floatzel. Yet still I wondered if I could actually harm a human without hesitation.

The longer I dwelled on it, the more I was reminded of my teeth drawing blood against Boro, and I began to fell nauseous. So my thoughts turned towards Alphonse. I was resolute that he was alive, but there was a nagging voice in the back of my mind, with the combined voice of Ari and Serene, telling me that I was wrong. Images of his armor body, torn to scraps, lying lifelessly on the ground before a group of humans and pokémon flashed sporadically through my imagination. I shivered, fighting back the moisture in my eyes that threatened to become tears at the thought. Then there was the girl, Elina, and her own beaten and bloody body joined Al's in my head as soon as I remembered her. I jumped up, shaking my head and shouting inwardly that such a thing couldn't be true. Still I wondered, what were these humans doing to them?

Standing up, and sore, I walked a distance into the middle of our cage and turned my attention to the door to our prison, outside the cage's door. It hadn't changed, but I noticed a detail I had somehow missed on my first viewing of the room. There was a window, clouded white, but still clear enough to see through to the other side. My eyes widened; how did I miss that? I moved closer, trying to see beyond our room, but the window was too high up and I was too small down to catch any details beyond the grey tiles of the ceiling that lay beyond.

My eyes narrowed, and I took steps back instead, stopping only when my tail scratched up against the cold, gritted surface of the concrete wall behind me. With the added distance and a new angle, I was able to see more of the area that lay beyond the doorway. Despite that my new vantage point barely provided a better field of view, I was able to see a concrete wall some distance behind; it was a hallway. I tried moving around to change my field of view outside the window, but I all I got was more wall and more ceiling.

At this point, Ari had perked her head up to watch me shuffle about, her head tilted in clear confusion. "What are you _doing_?" She asked in an incredulous tone.

"I'm trying to see outside." I replied, without turning to face her. I moved to the left a little bit, closer to the espeon, but kept my gaze focused solely on the door and what lay past it. Once again I saw nothing.

That was until the top halves of two blurred, but distinguishable people appeared close to the window, facing each other. I jumped backwards at their sudden appearance, startled, and almost hit the wall behind me. Ari jumped upwards too, standing to full attention and staring intently at the door that I was also staring at with wide eyes. The details weren't perfect, due to the white blur of the glass, but I was able to catch a color of black and red on what I was sure were uniforms.

They hadn't moved since first appearing, but they weren't facing the door to their cell. They instead stared at each other, their heads moving about as the outlines of their mouths opened and closed. They were evidently talking to each other, but I found it odd at how stiff their movements were. Were they scared or tense about something? Or were they talking about us? The thought that something wasn't right ran through my anxious mind, before a third figure suddenly appeared. He was a larger human, wearing what I thought was a white version of the other figures' black uniforms. It was difficult to tell, but I was sure that I saw him yell at the both of them and point a finger (or at least an arm) down the left side of the window; down the hall. They saluted the white-clad figure and quickly ran down the pointed direction, the first human trailing close behind them.

Ari sighed, disappointment practically pouring off of her in waves. "It was just a false alarm."

I nodded, my stomach sinking in my own disappointment. Still I kept my attention focused on the window of the door. I didn't know why, but I was compelled to watch and wait as if something else were bound to happen. I growled quietly in frustration; _If only I could see more!_

Ari, on the other paw, had resigned herself back towards the corner of the room. There she lied herself down, dropping in a heap, and once more began to wait patiently. She glanced quickly in my direction, and I turned away to avert her gaze. Could that be me, I wondered? She was ragged in appearance and there was a look of what I was sure was despair in her eyes; there way she held herself in a slump with drooping shoulders and a head held low. Could that be me, I wondered? She was an espeon, evolved from the love and care of a trainer. Despite that, here she was in this decrepit state.

I turned back to her, finally tearing my attention away from the window, with a question on my mind. I hesitated in asking, however, opting instead to stare at her curled up form, shrouded by the dim light of our cell. I remembered the last time I asked, and received a heated answer. Still the question burned in my head, urging to be released. A moment passed in the crushing silence before I finally decided to break it. Carefully and quietly I asked: "Ari, what was your trainer like?"

As soon as the words left my mouth, I was already regretting it. A wave shame came over me, and I was tempted to take back my question and tell the espeon thatshe didn't have to answer. It was too late. Ari's head had already shot up, and she was staring at me with narrowed eyes and a deep scowl. Immediately I looked away, unable to look at her piercing gaze. It was a long moment before I finally heard her speak, and by then I still couldn't bare to look at her.

"My trainer..." She started to say, voice uneven as she stressed the second word yet kept her tone tired. "My trainer… she was kind, and caring, and ... _considerate_." Her voice cracked and I finally looked back at her. She had turned her head to look at the floor, eyes darkened.

Then she was looking again back at me, eyes moist, narrowed, and angry, and I was once again overcome with the desire to turn away. I only just barely managed to maintain eye contact, despite the sudden coldness I felt coming from her. "She was there for me like you'd expect a trainer to be." Ari continued. "But now she is gone. I... _we_ are on our _own_. That's all you need to know."

Once again I was unable to keep looking at her, so I turned my attention back towards the window. With that, silence descended on us again, leaving us alone with our thoughts in the dim light of our barren cell. Ari, undoubtedly with her thoughts of escape, or maybe of her trainer, and me with my own thoughts of guilt. The espeon had been trying to move on, or forget about her trainer, and my bringing it up probably wasn't helping matters. Still I had to consider the relationship she used to have, the love and loyalty she felt, because I was considering what mine was towards Alphonse was. Back in the forest, for the sake of appearances, I had agreed to say that he was my trainer. Before this madness with other worlds and alchemy, even considering the idea of a trainer was out of the question. To be caught and used against my will in battle against another pokémon was sickening and undeniably wrong to me. Then came the boy in the armor who was kinder than most others I've met, and then came a mad scientist trying to build an army out of pokémon, and now I wasn't sure.

There was loud bang, followed by the clangs of metal and a sound akin to the tearing of fabric that ripped me away from my thoughts. Outside the window, to my shock, were flung the three humans that I saw earlier. In an instant Ari and I shot to the end of the room where we could see the most, standing side by side each other. The two of us looked intently outside the hall; Ari with body tensed, while hope was swelling up inside me. Could it be, I wondered? Could it be Alphonse?

At that moment, the wall left of the door began to glow a bright blue hue, and arcs of lightning began to dance about it. The scene startled Ari, and she jumped backwards into the corner of our cell with her fur on end and eyes wide. I, however, stood my ground, the fur on my spine prickling in excitement. My eyes widened and a large, open smile grew on my face as a set of double doors formed from the light. As soon as the doorway was complete and the light and sounds of the transmutation died down it was flung open, light from the hallway pouring in and revealing an unmistakable figure. _He's alive,_ I thought with a pounding heart. _Al is really alive!_

"Tasha!" Was the joyful exclamation that Al let out as he ran towards me, metal feet clanking all the way. He didn't have to run for long; I ran to meet him, jumping up and into his open arms. He caught me without problem, and soon I was being squeezed between his armored torso and arms. Before I could protest that I couldn't breath I was being held outwards in his hands, his helmeted head level with my beaming face.

"Oh thank goodness. You're alive!" We exclaimed together at the same time, causing us to pause and chuckle. After that, Al put me down, and I was able to catch another figure revealed in the light from the newly created doors. For a moment I tensed up, then I recognized with relief that it was only the girl from earlier, Elina. _Good_ , I thought, _she's alive and well too._

"I was so worried about you, Al." I said, voice beginning to crack. "I thought… I was beginning to think they killed you."

"You thought I was dead?" Al asked, pointing to himself. I hesitantly nodded.

"What about yourself!?" He suddenly yelled, causing me to step back, startled. "You shouldn't have worried about me; I would have been fine. Why didn't you worry about yourself? You were in more danger than I was."

"I'm… sorry, Al." I barely stuttered out, still stunned by his outburst. I looked downwards to my feet, and back to Alphonse, brows wrinkled. I did worry about myself, but compared to Al's welfare, it was barely a priority.

Before I could say as much, Ari finally spoke up from the corner, voice barely above a whisper and shaking. "He's big, and metal…" Then her eyes narrowed and her scowl deepened as she began to growl. "And the wall… how did he do that, Tasha? Is this your… _trainer_?" She didn't look at me when she asked, her attention focused solely on Alphonse before us and occasionally flickering to Elina behind him.

Al shifted where he stood, turning to look at the espeon for the first time. He gasped when he saw he fully, seemingly appalled by her ratty condition. I didn't blame him.

"What did they do to you? Are you alright?" He took a short step forward, bending over in an attempt to lower himself to Ari's level.

It didn't work. The espeon only became more tense, her fur standing further up and giving her feral appearance. Combined with her ragged appearance, she became the very image of a cornered pokémon.

"They've abused her, Al," I began to say, getting his attention. "These humans captured her and killed her trainer, and are using that collar to choke her abilities."

Alphonse gasped at that and turned to look at Ari again. I looked too, and I saw her shoot me a piercing glare, causing me to flinch. She kept her stare focused solely on the armored boy before us afterword, however, and I was able to recover quickly. Before Alphonse could take a step forward, as I saw him about to, I slowly and deliberately approached Ari, getting in between him and the espeon as I did so.

"Ari, it's alright. We can trust him. He's only here to help." I said, trying to assure her.

Ari shot me another glance, this time less intense, and her fur began to relax, her expression becoming less severe. She looked back at Alphonse again, and while I saw her fur bristle once more, it was only temporary. She looked at him with narrowed eyes and a frown, but it was the same face that she used whenever she spoke with me. Hesitantly she took a step towards the suit of armor, still tense, but somewhat more at ease than she was when she was pressed against the corner.

For Alphonse, this seemed to be a signal that it was safe to approach her, which he did, albeit slowly. When he was within arm's reach of the espeon, however, she tensed up again, fur standing back on end. Al paused for a moment, and I held my breath, but he continued stepping closer and tried to touch the black collar her neck. Ari, was having none it, however. The espeon lashed out just as his fingers were about to brush up against the collar, biting viscously into his unfeeling, empty hand.

Alphonse, unfazed by her sudden attack, began to speak in the kindest and most gentle voice I'd ever heard from him. "It's alright now, Ari. I'm here to help."

To my surprise and awe, Ari actually relaxed and let go. Then again, Al does seem have that effect, I realized. Alphonse clapped his hands and carefully placed them on the espeon's collar, and to my further surprise, there was a flash of blue light and electricity; the tell-tale signs of alchemy. _How was he able to do that?_ I wondered with wide eyes. _There wasn't a circle at all!_

I wasn't the only one who started at Al's use alchemy. After the lights died down and the collar fell to the floor in a resounding metallic echo, twisted and misshapen, Ari jumped away with wide eyes and bared teeth. I felt myself begin to panic when I saw the gem on her forehead begin to glow a bright pink. _What would she do with her regained psychic powers?_ She stared intently at Alphonse, and a faint pink outline appeared around his armor. I realized tool late with horror that she was using a psychic attack. Before I could interrupt or protest, however, her face twisted in what I could only guess was horror, and she dashed right underneath Al's legs and around a startled Elina to make a beeline towards the newly created door.

"Ari! Ari, come back!" I cried, running after her. When I made it outside the hallway in a fruitless attempt to catch her and stop her from doing something stupid, she was gone. The hallway was bare, and with no sign of the espeon anywhere. I couldn't help but wonder forlornly what she would do, and where she would go.

The slow clanking of Al's metal feet brought me back to reality as he left our cell with Elina in tow, who was looking down the hall with upturned eyebrows and wide eyes like I had. Al, on the other hand, was holding his helmet with his right hand, somehow appearing distraught and dazed, staring into space.

After a long moment, he spoke in a quiet and hoarse voice. "It was like… like she was inside my mind, poking around. It was awful…" I shuddered at that. A psychic pokémon would no doubt try reading minds, and it would no doubt be disturbing for the recipient, I was sure.

We stood there in the hallway for a long moment before we heard the stepping of feet behind us and the shouts of Elina tearing us out of our thoughts. "Hey Al! Come over here! I think I've found something!" She yelled, voice quivering.

The both of us turned around quickly and found her standing the other end of the hallway. Her head was poking out from behind an open door with the words "STORAGE" written in bold across a glass plane. From her wide eyes and worried frown, whatever was behind the door and in the "STORAGE" room was a cause for concern. Al and I immediately ran over to her position, where she then opened the rest of the door fully and revealed to a sight I almost couldn't believe.

xxxxx

"Our inventory currently stands at 536 pokémon captured over the past month. Not much of an improvement from our last numbers, but under our current circumstances it's more than would normally be reasonable."

"That's excellent news to hear. You've been working hard at your position. I'm proud to call you a member of Team Rocket."

"I'm flattered sir. Personally I think there's still room for improvement among the grunts. It's disconcerting that most of them are still using rattatas and zubats."

"Ha ha! What an attitude! One of the best and you're still not satisfied. At your rate you'll make vice in no time."

xxxxx

Alphonse's armor body trembled in anger, the metal plates and pads of his body clattering against each other. His fists were gripped tight such that if there was anything in his hands before, it was now ground to dust. The white-red orbs that occupied the eye holes of his helmet had sharpened to pinpricks. Indeed, the very emotion of fury almost poured off of him. It was to the point that his companions took a cautious step away from him, yet maintained a steady, horrified gaze on the scene before them.

 _How could they!_ He raged inside. _These monsters! This is just wrong!_ These thoughts and other less pleasant, vulgar ones raced through his mind at break-neck speeds. Instead of acting out and striking at an object nearby, as he felt the need to, all that Al did was stand there in horror.

That sight was, of course of pokémon. It wasn't the sight of pokémon alone that enraged him, it was their condition. All kinds of colors, shapes, and sizes of pokémon were being kept in cages stacked besides and on top of each other. Some might have been adorable while others may have been absolutely viscous. Regardless of their predisposed appearances, they all bore the same ragged, abused bodies that Al had seen on Ari the Espeon earlier.

He saw a black, restraining collar on a couple of pokémon here, a metal brace on even more pokémon there, and even some metal casing completely enclosing the head of a pokémon in the back. Every sign of a black market trade that Alphonse had ever heard or read about was represented perfectly in this storage room, within the base of Team Rocket. It was worse than how Isorfold was treating pokémon, Alphonse thought, brisk with anger.

The armored alchemist _really_ wanted to hurt someone then and there.

xxxxx

"I assume the pokémon are in storage and ready for transfer?"

"Of course, sir. If you'd like, I can have each and every single one delivered by the next morning through the underground channels. Just say the word, sir."

"That's not necessary at the moment. Keep up your progress; see if you can't double your inventory. Then I'll require that you deliver them. Its getting harder and harder to maintain business, so the more we can move discretely the better. Those are your standing orders as of today. Do you understand?"

"Absolutely, sir. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?"

"No, that will be all. Unless, of course, you have something else to report?"

"Not particularly. Except…"

"Except?"

"We did recover something odd today, sir. Some of my grunts, led by Hanson, recovered a boy. Or at least, we think he's a boy."

"Pardon?"

"He was wearing a suit of armor when he was found. When his helmet was removed so that we could see who he was, however, we found that he was empty inside. He could somehow walk and talk while being a hollow suit of armor."

"Well now. That is interesting. What have you done with this animated suit of armor?"

"He's been taken down for interrogation, sir. After my men have gleaned all the information they can get out of him, I'll have him taken apart for further analysis."

"Ha! You're as cold as always, Aeros. I shall expect more good fortunes in your next report."

"As you wish and command, President Giovanni."

xxxxx

Alphonse's metal and black leather fist slammed into the nearest surface besides him, a concrete wall. The impact resulted in a resounding clang that echoed throughout the large, warehouse-sized Storage room. He pulled his fist away from the wall slowly, which revealed a considerable dent and cracks. As he brought his shaking hand back to his side, the sound from his sudden strike started getting the pokémon to stir. When they did, shrieks and yells started up.

Elina cast a look at him, her expression solemn. "It's awful, isn't it? It's just-"

"Awful is an understatement." Al interrupted sharply, his voice low. He didn't see the young girl flinch in reaction.

Slowly, he began walking down the room, avoiding the faces of his companions as they eventually followed his clanking footsteps. With every few steps he took, Al would pass a cage, then another, and then another. At the sight of them, the pokémon inside grew more restless and active, shouting and reaching out with manic faces on their varied forms. Their voices carried curses and begging, with undertones of sadness or rage. Some even tried to attack them; streams of fire or water would hit uselessly against the bars or planes of glass that restrained their freedom. In the face of it all, Al was only relieved by the fact that Elina couldn't hear what was being said.

He was horrified by everything else.

"You damn humans!" Yelled a grey and white, cat-like pokémon with a curly tail as it swiped at the air beyond its claws.

"How could you do this to us?!" Cried another pokémon with a round, blue body and big ears alongside a ball tipped tail. It was slumped up against front of its cage, weeping from red, angry eyes.

"You're evil! EVIL!" Cried yet another pokémon with a small, child-like yet muscular body and golden fins on its head; it rocked back and forth against the metal bars.

"Give me back my son!" Yelled an orange, dragon like pokémon with misshapen wings and a collar much like the one he had seen on Ari's neck earlier.

"Leave us alone." Whimpered a far smaller pokémon, one with purple fur and a body similar to the monkeys he had seen in a book someplace when he was child. It was curled up inside its tail, which was tipped with a hand-like appendage.

"Please… just let us go!" A dark blue bipedal pokémon with feline features and red feathers shouted, tears streaming profusely down its face.

"The pain… it won't stop. Why won't it stop?!" A white and brown pokémon with a rounded body and a spikey crown screamed as it slammed its head against the floor of its cage. It held its head with arms wrapped completely black shackles, and around its neck was yet another black collar.

"I'll kill you!" Another pokémon that had extensive scars all over its body, pink all over with a curl of hair on its head and brown colored ears, shouted as it pressed its face against the metal bars. "I'll kill all of you humans!"

"Big brother?"

Alphonse Elric froze up at the voice. Slowly, he turned to look at the source. It was a small pokémon, white and grey metal plates covering its body, and two large eyes. One was cerulean blue with a black pupil, while the other was a clouded grey. Like many of the pokémon here, tears were streaming profusely from its eyes.

A hauntingly familiar presence came over him then. It was the feeling of helplessness. Images of Nina Tucker, as a human and as a chimera flickered through his mind, and he realized just how similar the situation was. Even without the factor of alchemy, Alphonse was still born witness to awful mistreatment.

"You're a monster!" Yelled the muscled pokémon from before.

"Why can't you human's leave us alone?" The purple pokémon anguished from behind the appendage of its tail.

"You're all evil! You and your race! All of you!" Shouted the pink, brown eared pokémon again.

"I'll kill you!" The grey cat pokémon shouted as it smashed its face up against the bars of its cage.

"Where's my big brother?"

That was the last straw. Suddenly, Alphonse's voice exploded throughout the warehouse sized room, carrying above the anguished cries and mournful whimpers of the pokémon around him. " _STOP_ " He cried. " _STOP"_

Whether it was by his command or by their own surprise, the room became silent and still. Al stood there, in between the columns of captured pokémon alongside his companions, Tasha and Elina, in the deafening silence for a long, almost unbearable moment. It was almost overbearing, so when it was finally broken the soft clanks of Al's moving feet, which were now comparable to crashing steel, they flinched. He moved slowly forward down the columns of the now silent cages, staring straight ahead and avoiding their faces, and ignoring the sounds of his companion's reluctant, following steps. After some distance forward, the armored alchemist turned to look back at them with the expressionless face of his iron helmet and glowing the glowing red orbs of his eyes.

xxxxx

When Al finally stopped, he was able to see our stunned and grimaced faces. The girl, Elina, was looking at the him with wide eyes, and a small, open mouthed frown. She held herself into a barely stable stance, with her arms held close to her chest and her legs spread apart into wide stance, shaking every now and then. From how the expression on her face deepened as she looked about the cages of trapped machop, aron, sneasel, and almost countless other species of pokémon, I could only imagine her thoughts were of the horror. My own thoughts weren't that different. My expression was grimmer however. I stared downwards at the ground with furrowed brows, biting my tongue. My body was shaking, trembling with a mix of emotions I couldn't identify as I avoided as much as possible the burning stares of the pokémon about us, who had no doubt finally noticed me after Al's outburst.

I stood there alongside Elina, my fur just barely brushing her legs, some distance away from Al, who looked over his shoulder at us, the red orbs of his helmet just barely visible. The silence that had returned after Al stopped moving became ever pervasive once more, bearing down on us almost like it was a crushing force. It was easily the loudest part of the room we stood in. Eventually I could bare it no longer and began walking forward, my sight set on Alphonse. When I reached the back of his legs, I sat down quietly, craning my neck so that I could set my eyes on his.

"We should free them, Al" I pleaded, looking up at him from my spot at the back of his feet. "They don't deserve this. No pokémon… nobody deserves this."

Al looked away. "We can't." He said quietly, his voice strained. I stood up, eyes sharpening and mouth opening as I was about to snap at him, to ask _why_ _ **not**_ , but he continued and interrupted me. "We can't. Not without risking harm to ourselves."

That gave me pause, and I looked around the cages of pokémon about us. Silent as they had become, I could clearly make out the expressions of pain and defeat on many of their faces… and of anger and hatred on many others. Then I was struck with the images of their futile assaults on their cages; the captured charizard breathing fire at unyielding glass, the machop pounding uselessly on the bars of his cage, and the scarred clefairy smashing his head against the barriers of his own. Then their shouts and calls for blood that came after, and I was forced to look away, shutting my eyes tight and turning my head to the ground.

Al was right, I realized. It didn't matter what they were in the past, the pokémon around us were now were barely more than viscous and hysterical beasts. It was no doubt a result of the treatment the humans here had given them. For a moment I considered releasing them again. If I pleaded, I knew Al would agree, but I shot the thought down quickly. There was no telling who of the freed pokémon would be thankful, and who would lash out and attack. Frustration bubbled up within me as my claws slid out and scratched at the floor unconsciously. My teeth ground against each other as my eyes bored into the concrete floor, thoughts for and against releasing the imprisoned pokémon shooting back and forth throughout my head. _They need to be freed_ , the thought echoed constantly, _but they might kill us if we do_ , another echoed back.

The sound of Al's clanking feet, and his shadow as he stepped around me tore me away from my thoughts. I was up instantly, head turned to the side and watching in confusion as he made his way towards Elina, who was looking at him with concerned eyes. When he stepped past her, without a glance my own concern grew, and I ran to follow him. It was when he was hallway back to the door we entered from that Elina began shouting at him to wait, and that the wails of the pokémon started up again, almost drowning her out.

"Get back here, you beasts!"

"Let me out, _please_!"

"I'll rip your throat out! Tear you to pieces!"

"Leave us alone!"

At each plea for freedom and demand for blood I flinched, stepping out of rhythm. Alphonse paused for only a single a second, and my expression grew hopeful, but then he seemingly regained his composure and continued moving forward. Elina had grown quiet in the ruckus yet kept an even, quick walking pace with the much larger armor in front of us, forcing me to run every now and then when a particular voice from a pokémon here or there caught me.

Eventually we reached the room's entrance and exited immediately. In reality, we probably weren't in there for more than a few minutes, but I couldn't help but feel like it was an eternity. Immediately a let a breath, and the lump in my throat, which had developed at some point while we walked among the cages, lessened. Still I head their cries behind me, until I saw Al walk over to the steel door and begin to shut it, the sounds of the pokémon inside quieting as he did so. With a click, the door was closed and silence reigned, much to my internal relief, despite my still worried and pained expression.

"Alphonse, we have to help them." Elina said as soon as the screams quieted, her voice stern.

Alphonse didn't respond. He stood there at the door for minutes, leaning his armored head against the solid surface and digging his iron horn into the steel. I took a step closer, quietly saying his name to get his attention. It seemed to work, for the armor shifted, but he did not regard me or Elina beside us. Instead he began moving down the hall, armored feet clanking, and forcing us to follow.

I frowned but did just that, walking a short distance behind the young girl as we caught up to Alphonse, who had stopped and was closely examining the wall before him. For a moment I was confused. Then I looked at the wall he was looking at and saw what appeared to be a map detailing the floor we were on. How I had come to know what a map was in the first place confused me, until I remembered how I had suddenly understood the concepts of alchemy when we first arrived, and decided to save the questions for later. I took a closer look at the map that Alphonse was now trailing his figures across.

The map was a detailed, bird's eye view of the floor we were on. Hallways sprawled this way and that way, crisscrossing in grids that made up most the map. In between the hallways were a number of rooms, different in sizes, and given combinations of numbers and letters that I couldn't fully understand, so I ignored them. Instead I focused my attention on the most defining feature of the map; the large red arrow pointing to a combination of words that said "You Are Here" in bold.

It was a full minute before I realized exactly what that meant, and what it meant that I _understood_. I started, my eyes widening in surprise. Just as I had suddenly understood the fundamentals of alchemy and the words for certain human objects, so too had I understood _human language_. I excitedly realized how amazing it was, before I began to wonder why. _There's no way that it's a coincidence,_ I thought, no longer paying attention to the map ahead of me that Alphonse was still observing. _There has to be a connection._

When Alphonse exclaimed triumphantly, however, I was snapped out of my wondering. He turned around, his arms held against his hips, and gave Elina and me a determined stare, the orbs of his eyes burning bright. For our part, we gave him more confused and frustrated looks. He paused for a moment, than made a noise that was akin to somebody clearing their throat, as if he was about to speak.

Elina wouldn't have it though.

She exploded at Al, yelling with an enraged expression. I flinched back, scared and surprised as she started her outburst. "What _are_ you doing? Did you hear anything that I said or asked _at all_!?" She was pointing a figure directly at the face of his helmet now. "No! You weren't, were you!? You were too busy ignoring those pokémon that we should be helping right this instant!"

Al and I both flinched at the harshness of her words, and Elina paused before continuing again. "Did you even care about them? I thought you would free them, Al! They _needed_ to be freed! Why did you ignore them!?"

It was at this point that Alphonse finally responded while I could only stand back and watch the scene before me, expression distraught. "I didn't ignore them!" He snapped back, standing up to his full height and towering over the girl. "What good would it have been if they tried to kill you when I freed them?!"

"This isn't the time for us to be fighting!" I shouted, trying to get their attention. Al gave pause, turning his head to glance at me, but Elina didn't.

"You don't know that's what would've happened, Al!" She responded, unwavering in front of the armored boy that towered over her.

"I _do_ know that's what would've happened, Elina." He replied moving closer to her with his own pointed finger.

I started at that, my eyes widening. I took another step forward "Al, wait!" I yelled, realizing what he was beginning to say. My cries went ignored, however.

"Oh really? How!?" She shouted, her face a hairs width away from the face of his helmet

"Because I _heard_ them say so!"

I flinched hard at that, palming my face with a paw. Alphonse paused as well, his armor shifting and arm dropping to his side as he realized what he had just said. It was too late to take it back, however, and the effects of his words were immediate; Elina was looking at him as if he had just grown an extra head.

"What?"

xxxxx

 _This knowledge you that you have now is dangerous, and will draw more danger towards you. If you seek to escape it, then you must find those that are even more dangerous. For the path that you have taken will not give you the chance to run away._

 _Next Time_

 _Chance Encounter with a Dragon Master_


	6. Chance Encounter

_Chance Encounter with a Dragon Master_

 _xxxxx_

" _Ha! You're as cold as always, Aeros. I shall expect more good fortunes in your next report."_

"As you wish and command, President Giovanni."

Aeros sighed as she put the phone back down on its pedestal. Briefly she wondered if it was a good idea to mention the boy they found at all. He was an oddity that might be more trouble than he's worth. At that thought, however, the Rocket boss quickly scoffed. The boy was literally a _walking suit of armor_. The applications for something like that could be limitless. Especially if his armor body makes him immune to harm and able to forgo human needs. The smile on her face grew. Yes, something like that could be very useful, she thought. Before she could actually imagine some of the applications, however, her attention was grabbed by the sudden knocking at her door.

"Come in." She commanded, slight irritation in her voice from being interrupted from her musings.

Without hesitation the door was slammed open, revealing a young man in a standard black uniform, a common grunt, who was panting heavily, his expression distraught. Aeros' eye began to twitch slightly, and she sighed again. She had the distinct feeling that this was going to be a rather long day.

xxxxx

The pokémon was running down the corridor of metal and concrete as fast as her legs could carry her, ignoring the exhaustion that was slowly yet surely creeping in. She made a right turn, then a left, and then another right, still keeping her pace despite her body's growing need for rest. She couldn't say where she was going as she ran about, passively noting the signs on doors written in human language as they passed by. She couldn't bear to stay with _that thing_ any longer than she had to. When she was with her trainer, before she was taken away by _them_ , Ari liked to think she had seen just about everything of anything that could have been thrown at her. Large pokémon, small pokémon, and pokémon who seemed to stretch the boundaries of what was possible in reality; there were not many things that surprised her, especially after her capture. Until today. Now nothing scared her more than that… _thing_.

While at least some part was thankful that it _(he?)_ freed her, and then released her psychic abilities, she was still distrustful. The armor had been intimidating at the time, but the voice that emanated through it was strikingly gentle. That being said, it sounded much too human for her liking. So as soon as the collar around her neck had been freed with that strange magic power of his, she didn't hesitate in looking into his mind with a Mind Reader.

She had regretted it instantly.

She only wanted to find out what was in the armor so that she could confirm or deny her suspicions. She should have realized something was wrong when she found the armor empty, but she kept delving deeper. Ari had simply assumed that it was a ghost pokémon animating a suit of armor, so she tried to peer deeper, looking for a mind. Stories of ghost pokémon doing such weren't uncommon, after all, whether they were true or not. It was surprisingly difficult searching for the mind of the pokémon that should've been there, the usual places a mind _would_ be were empty. Ari instead found it at the top of the armor's backside of all places. When she did finally find the mind, however, there was no hesitation to peer inside.

What she actually saw were memories. Memories with horrible images within them. She had seen pleasant images intermittent as well, but they were quickly drowned out by the more obscene. The memory she saw that stood out the most was of two young boys, their immeasurable pain, and the creation of _something that wasn't natural_. It had overtaken her, burned itself through her, and buried itself deep into her own mind, in the furthermost recesses where she couldn't dig it out. She doubted she would be able to access it again, but she knew it was there, like the ghost of an itch that could never be scratched. The entire ordeal lasted barely a second, but when it was finally over she couldn't stand to be near the …boy.

She rounded another corner, stepping into a hallway almost identical to the one she was in before, and slowed to a trot to rest her weary body. She wasn't exactly sure of where she was going. She kept moving despite that, determined to get away from the hollow armor and escape. Only briefly did Ari wonder if it was a good idea to leave behind the shinx, Tasha, behind. The thought was quickly dismissed, however, as she rounded another corner. The young pokémon seemed capable; she might escape on her own. Ari had her own escape to worry about. As well as her egg. The espeon needed to find it, or more accurately, find the child ( _her child_ ) that hatched from it, and then make her escape.

Ari saw an arrow, colored in red, as she turned another corner. It was plastered well above her on a wall that made up a conjunction of a hallway. She barely considered it before following the path it pointed to out of curiosity. Something inside nagged at her as she trotted down; where were the humans? By all accounts they should be chasing after her. Did they not know she had escaped, or were they busy with something else, she wondered?

Before she could continue her line of questioning thoughts, the hallway she walked down met her with a large corridor. This one was different from the others she had passed through. It was a straight path with no doors on its walls; they were bear save for a strip of red leading down to the end. At said end were two sets of gleaming, reflective metal doors. On either side were buttons in the shape of arrows. She found it an odd sight at first, but quickly realized that it might be an exit.

She wasted no time running to the set of metal doors, only understanding what she was doing as she was half way down the hall. She continued still, struggling against her quickly returning exhaustion. She would not let herself be beat by the burning of her lungs and the soreness of her legs. If she used a quick attack, she began to think, it would be more than possible to reach the end in little time at all. If she did, she would have to rest, Ari thought to herself. How long had she been running to get away from the armor? No, her hastened escape couldn't be the complete source of her exhaustion, she realized. Was it her despair and misery from her captivity? It was possible, but she could not dwell on such foolish thoughts. Her strained running would have to do for now.

Once she was two thirds of the way down the hall, so focused on the doors was she that she failed to notice the human stepping around the corner behind her. She failed to realize how strained her speed actually was, how her body was stiff from being in captive spaces, her limited energy from what food she had been given that was now completely burned up, and the abuse they imposed on her combined with a body afflicted with malnutrition. She was unable to defend herself against the human that caught up to her, delivering a harsh kick to her abdomen. She was sent sprawling in pain, struck by surprise, and landed against a wall. She tried to stand up and fight back, her legs shaking, but she was kicked once again. This time the blow went into her stomach.

Paralyzed by pain and sent sprawling once more, it was all that Ari could do to look up at the human that assaulted her. Her neck barely turned properly for her head to see when a strikingly familiar-no, a _dreadfully_ familiar-weight clamped down on her neck. Her head fully turned for her eyes to see the human that became the subject of her rising anger, but the effects of the returned weight were immediate. What little vibrancy was added to the world when she got her psychic abilities back were once again dulled. A sensation describable only as a fog or blanketing fell unto her mind. The human before her, a male with bleach blonde hair that poked out from a rag on his head, bearing cold blue eyes that were somehow accented by his black and red uniform, had put back a thick black collar on the espeon.

Through pained and narrowed eyes, Ari glared fiercely at the human and the emblazoned red R on his chest. In response, the human male started to speak in a sickeningly cheery voice. "Well now. Would you look at that. An espeon roaming the halls without adult supervision." Ari continued her fierce glare, a vicious image added to by the hairs on her back now on end; a toothy smile spreads across the man's face at the sight. "Or should I say, an _escaped_ espeon?"

From behind, a more obese, more brutish man appeared. He wore a complete copy of the other human's outfit, save for the lack of a rag on his head, exposing a mop of short, greasy jet black hair on his head. The fabric that would have encased his arms like those of his companion's outfit were ripped off to reveal heavily muscled arms. He also sported a toothy smile, though with more intimidating effect due to the harshness of his face.

"Heh, I think you're right, Valimond. Think we could get a promotion for recapturing it?" The brute asked, his voice thick and heavy.

"I think we could." The first human replied without looking at his partner. "What say you and I do just that and put her back in her cage?"

No. She was not going to let that happen. She would _not_ go back to her cage. She could not when she had come so far. Ari was now putting as much of her strength as possible to glare up at the humans, struggling to stand up and use her blocked powers. The waves of pain from her torso and stomach were too great, however, and her legs failed to stand her up completely against screaming muscles. Her mind was barely better, for the collar effectively cut off her abilities; she got no response in trying to glimpse the human's thoughts. She couldn't attack or use her psychic abilities at all, so she was forced to settle for the glare with vain hope that the humans would back off.

As she expected, it didn't work. The humans were nonplussed.

The brute chuckled at her struggle. "I don't know. It looks like it has some fight in it. We might have to… tame it first."

With those words came a sickening sensation in Ari, and she tried—and failed—to intensify her stare. She was already the spitting image of a feral animal, with her fur on end, back arched, and face twisted into a snarl. She knew exactly what was coming.

The sneer of the first human remained plastered on his face, and his eyes seemed to glint at his partners words. "I think you're right, Bo. How should we begin?"

Ari moved backwards, hissing and swiping out with her claw at an approaching hand from the human named Valimond. He paused, but didn't falter away. At the same time, the espeon found herself backed literally against a wall, the two humans before her effectively blocking any path of escape. The brutish human reared a leg backwards, in preparation for a kick, and Ari closed her eyes. Her body tensed as she mentally prepared herself for the oncoming attack. It never came.

A sound like that of a bell rang out throughout the corridor, ringing twice.

At the odd sound, Ari opened her eyes and, along with two confused humans, turned her head to look at the source. It had come from the strange set of doors, where a light she didn't notice below the ceiling before was now completely lit. The same doors slid back slowly and almost soundlessly open, revealing two figures standing tall. They both stepped out, one human, and the other a pokémon. Specifically, and to the espeon's surprise, it was a dragonite. The humans beside her were sharing an expression of raised brows and gaping mouths, irises shrinking in shock greater than Ari's that was mixed equally between them with horror.

"It's—it's not possible!" The human called Valimond stuttered, his voice a complete flip of its earlier smugness and sadism. "How did he get here!? Why is he here!?"

"There's no way…" The larger human, Bo, trailed off, his voice barely above a whisper. "It is him. The dragon champion!" The last line came out alongside a gasp as he took a step back.

Ari considered the figure more closely, her surprise giving way to intrigue. There weren't many humans who could partner with dragon types. The more she observed the trainer, the "dragon champion" as the humans called him, she thought that he fit the part. He stood tall, just short of the human brute, who was just shorter than the dragonite itself. The new human held himself with a strong posture; His shoulders were straight, as was his back, and his legs were spread in a commanding stance. In combination with his stoic expression, there was an air of confident arrogance and seriousness about him. His clothing was a mix of dark blues and blacks, with orange lining the fringes of his outfit. Then there was the cloth draping across his back—Ari recalled that it was called a cape—with vibrant crimson on the inside and black on the outside; it popped into a collar around his neck. His eyes were black orbs, hard set yet not the least bit foreboding. On the top of his head was a spiked set of a hair that was a lighter shade of the red of his cape; it reminded Ari of fire.

From the two human's reactions, his outfit, and to his disinterested gaze at them, Ari surmised with some small amount of relief that this "champion" was not allied here. A moment passed before the term "champion" clicked recognition in her. The strongest human trainers were often called that, she remembered, eyes growing wide. A glimmer of hope rose within. A human champion in this place could guarantee… Ari briefly closed her eyes, composing herself once more and returning to a glare once she opened them again. Humans were humans; not to be trusted. That included this new human as well. The espeon did not falter her feral appearance, keeping herself poised to attack.

As the new human looked about his surroundings with disinterest, the shorter grunt, Valimond regained some of his composure. His face twisting in anger, he pointed a shaking finger at the "champion" human. "You're not supposed to be here." He started saying, trying to growl his voice but ultimately failing. "This is a Team Rocket base! Get out now, or else!"

The orange-red haired human merely raised an eyebrow, finally noticing the group before him. "Or else what?" He asked simply, voice unwavering.

Valimond gulped loudly. His once pointing finger was now slumped down, along with the rest of the arm he was doing the pointing with. "Uhh, Well… or…" The man blinked, and his hand quickly went down to his belt to grab at three pebble sized balls, colored red and white. Pokéballs, Ari realized from past experience. Ripping one of the balls from his belt, the man threw it into the air, where it changed sizes and split open, pouring out white light. The light materialized into the recognizable form of a pokémon as the human shouted, calling it out by name. "Go, Machop!"

The light faded. In its place was the pokémon in question. Small in stature, yet standing tall, the superpower pokémon was deceptively named. It had the form of a scrawny child, but a closer look revealed the muscles in its light grey appendages were toned and well-exercised. Its torso was no exception; almost bulging were its abs and pectorals. Grey all over, with the head of a lizard and Mohawk fins on top, it was easily recognizable as exactly what the human said, a machop.

Valimond shouted once more; commanding this time. "Machop, use Brick Break!"

The fighting type pokémon didn't miss a second. It rushed forward, swinging back a fist and clenching it as it started to softly glow. Half way to the human and the dragonite beside him, it swung the fist forward, about to strike them both down. Neither of them moved, and for a moment Ari was sure that would be it for the two of them.

Instead, both human and partner nimbly dodged the attack, the dragon pokémon pulling his trainer to the side with bemused expressions on both of their faces. The machop stumbled upon meeting no resistance, and the dragon was quick to take the opportunity. It slammed itself into the muscled pokémon, the force of which producing a thick and wet sound, and sending it flying. By the time it met the wall and hit the floor, it had already fainted.

Valimond wasn't looking that much better himself. Mouth agape and eyes wide, the human backed himself into the wall behind him, fearful of the dragonite that was now slowly making its way towards him. Its expression was fierce; eyes twisted into a glare and mouth turning into a snarl. Before it could continue on the vicious rampage that it intended, the dragon's partner put a hand on its shoulder, snapping out of its rage.

That might not have been the best idea, Ari thought. For at that moment when the human and the pokémon were distracted, the grunt's brute of a friend had gotten himself behind the trainer. A fist was reared back, prepared to strike. Ari must have gasped, for the trainer's attention was drawn away from his partner, eyes widening as he quickly looked behind himself. The brute, Bo, roared and brought his huge fist barreling forward.

"You may be the dragon champion!" He yelled mid swing. "But you're no _fighting_ champion!"

There was a flash of movement, and before Ari completely knew it, she had rammed herself into the brute's stomach faster than the eye could blink with a Quick Attack. The espeon wasn't completely sure how or why it happened; one moment she was trying to avoid attention by passively watching and the next she was getting involved. The brute wheezed from her attack, stumbling backward and crumpling to the floor holding his chest as he tried to regain the air knocked out of his lungs. Ari relished in the satisfaction of the image briefly, deciding this was why she got involved, before hopping back herself.

It wasn't long before the brute recovered, however. He regained his breath quickly, taking in big breaths of air, and slowly standing up. His expression was fierce and angry, and he reared back another fist, this time focused on the espeon in front of him. Ari was frozen briefly at the sight of the beastly man, unable to move out of the way. Before Bo could take the opportunity and throw a brutal punch, however, the fist of the dragonite that he had so conveniently forgotten crashed into his face, sending him stumbling once more. He collapsed to the ground again, but this time he didn't get up, now knocked unconscious.

After that, the partner and his dragon turned their attention back to the other grunt, Valimond, who quickly ran off as soon as they did, whimpering loudly. A single laugh escaped the human as he scratched his head at the sight, before he and the dragonite turned to look at the only other occupant in the room, Ari. She scrambled away, putting distance between herself and them while bringing her ever closer to the set of metal doors they appeared from.

A string of curses flew through her mind then, berating herself for her actions. She wasted a perfectly good opportunity to escape by helping a _human_ when she should have just left him behind to deal with the grunts. Sure, the trainer had saved her from capture, Ari begrudgingly admitted, but it didn't change the fact that she got herself involved when she shouldn't have. She cursed her protective instincts; she had been a trainer's pokémon for too long. That perfect distraction was _wasted_ for her to do what? Save a human? This human before her, she began to think with panic, was probably just as bad as the—

"Thank you."

 _What?_

Ari blinked, then blinked again before closely examining the human before her. The arrogant demeanor he sported earlier had disappeared, replaced by a softer and calmer version. On his face was a warm smile, and his eyes had somehow became kinder as well. Ari remained suspicious, even as she found herself relaxing ever so slightly.

The human let out a soft chuckle and briefly closed his eyes before speaking, his voice soft and low. "If you hadn't jumped in just then, I might have…" Then he stopped; his expression changed. A look as if he had suddenly realized something crossed his face before his smile quickly turned into a frown, his serious demeanor returned once more.

Ari wondered briefly about the change before realizing exactly what he was looking at: herself. The condition of her body specifically. She still looked wild and ragged, ribs showing and bruises quickly forming. Ari didn't care. Why worry about what a human thinks, she sarcastically wondered?

When the human kneeled down, bringing his eyes to level with hers, Ari was almost caught off guard. She maintained her appearance, however, keeping her fur on end and teeth barred to look as viscous and wild as the human no doubt thought she was. She didn't trust him. Her instincts were almost screaming at her, _don't trust the human._ The urge to attack was rising, and while she ignored it, the espeon didn't need to trust her instincts here anyway. Humans were humans, after all.

"They've hurt you, haven't they?" The human asked. "And you're escaping, aren't you? I should have known." He finished, palming his face.

His expression became warm when his eyes were revealed again. "Let's get that collar off of you. I can't imagine that it's very comfortable to have that thing weighing down on your neck, or that it's very nice to have your abilities restrained like that."

He reached out a hand, but before it was even halfway close the espeon immediately backed away, growling. There was no way she was letting this human touch her, no matter what he said. The human frowned, looking down at his hand. Then he closed his eyes once more and turned his head away before reaching out once more. Ari gave the human an incredulous look at the action, but found herself less wary for reasons she couldn't comprehend. When his hand did touch the collar around her neck, it grasped quickly onto it. Ari nearly bit the human right then and there until he followed that grasp with an inspection of the collar itself, and she realized he was feeling for something. Whatever it was he was looking for without _actually_ looking was found when Ari heard a soft click and felt the collar fall away, clattering to the ground uselessly.

Ari dashed away from the human immediately, her attention never leaving him or the partner pokémon beside him that was regarding her with a bemused expression. The human himself stood back up with a solemn expression, brows partially narrowed and a small frown on his face. He regarded her for a moment, where Ari maintained her fierce look, before turning and walking towards the metal doors. Her escape path, the thought passed through her mind fast and panicked. What was he going to do with her escape?

Thoughts that this was it, that her chances were up, that her escape route was gone for good, and that she could have prevented this flickered through her mind before she realized the opposite. Her psychic powers flared up on instinct, ready to lash out at the man before her opportunity disappeared as she thought it was going to; behind her, the dragonite noticed and began to advance, hostile intent rising again yet failing to be noticed by both. To the espeon's complete surprise, all the human did was press a button on the wall next to the doors. At that exact moment the doors to her escape opened. Ari was too stunned to recognize when the human, who had given her hope before dashing it before returning it again, walked past her without so much as a second glance.

"That elevator will take you to the top floor. It's just a hallway with another door at the end, I left it open when I came in, so it's a straight shot to the forest outside." The human said without looking at her, snapping her out of stupor.

With wide eyes and a tilted head, Ari looked at the human. Why would he possibly help her, she wondered? _Because humans aren't nice, they're manipulative,_ was the answering and immediate bitter thought _._ They took everything good away and crushed it without mercy or caring.

The human continued speaking, failing to notice her inner musings. "I'm not going to blame you if you took that opportunity right now. Heck, I would do it myself if I were you." Ari couldn't resist rolling her eyes at that. "But you're not the only one. Team Rocket has more than a hundred, maybe more than 500 pokémon that have been suffering just as you did. They might be suffering right now. They might be suffering _even more._ They deserve to be free, and the people who are keeping them need to pay for their crimes."

Finally he turned to look at her, and Ari was taken aback by the look in his eyes. "I can't ask you to help, nor do I need you to. I'm telling you this because you deserve to know, and because not all humans are bad." Ari responded to that with a sharp glare, and the human laughed. "From the way you're looking at me, you probably think otherwise. Still, there are more than just a few who know what the right thing to do is. Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you can live with it."

With that, the human turned again and left, his dragonite partner following closely behind and leaving Ari alone to her thoughts. She stared on at the duo, frozen as questions repeated themselves throughout her mind. Thoughts of why. Thoughts such as why the human would possibly want to help pokémon; of what he could gain by doing so. Humans never really cared for what was right, she thought bitterly. So why now? And why was this so _troubling_ for her?

The metal doors were closing now. If she hurried or used a quick attack, there was no doubt that she could make it inside before they closed completely. Panic urged her to move, and move she did at a respectable pace that would be sure to get her through the doors before her escape disappeared. As she arrived where the floor of the hallway met the floor of the "elevator," as the human called, she found herself slowing down. Then she was at a complete stop, and she could only watch absentmindedly and with the barest hint of her earlier panic as the elevator was closed completely off from her.

She saw humans fighting for pokémon. She had seen humans fighting over pokémon and fighting with pokémon, but today it was different. The suit of armor, who was somehow human (and now seemed quite nice) had both freed her and given her back her powers. Then the human with the dragonite came and she was saved again, her powers restored once more. At the same time, however, there were also humans who were trying to hurt her, as humans always did. The brute and the grunt, who were quick to dash her hopes and beat her up. Humans _ruined_ her life, she thought, but now she was being helped by them. Humans that were helping pokémon, and humans that were abusing them; today Ari had seen both.

Memories of her previous trainer, of a voice like a honey, and a comforting embrace bubbled up to the surface of her mind. Ari quickly beat them down. There was pain attached to those memories, sensations that she couldn't bear to experience again.

 _"Team Rocket has more than a hundred, maybe more than 500 pokémon that have been suffering just as you did."_

That's right. There were more pokémon here. Pokémon in the same conditions, _in the same situation,_ that she had been. The espeon had seen some of them. And she was just leaving them behind. At first, the espeon was okay with that. Survival of the fittest; she knew death was imminent if she stayed, so it was only natural that her first priority would be getting away with her life. It was on the others if they didn't make out it out, it was their fault. That was what she had been so quick to accept, but now she wasn't so sure. Could she really leave them behind without a second thought? Could she leave Tasha, the shinx that was so quick to help her escape, behind so easily? Or her egg for that matter?

 _"Whatever you decide to do, just make sure you can live with it."_

Her egg. The child that hatched from it. _Right in front of her_. Was she really about to abandon it on the promise of coming back for it later? Ari wanted to believe that it wasn't false, but she knew better. She had been ready to abandon it. She had been ready to leave the poor infant to a fate she had suffered without so much as a second thought. What did that make her, she wondered? Was she any better than the humans here? …Was she any better than her trainer?

No. She was not better than the humans, she realized with horror and self-hate. She ground her teeth; against her narrowed eyes the espeon felt tears threaten. This time she did not bother to stop them as the trickled down her face on thin trails, dampening her fur. She had planned to use other pokémon to escape, like a human would. She spared no thoughts on the welfare of other pokémon, like a human would. And she almost abandoned those she cared about, as well as those who cared about her. Just like a human would.

…Except, that wasn't completely true, was it? There were humans who were exceptions. The armored human, once Ari was able to get past his… nature, was a good example of that. He returned to his partner, the shinx, and freed her along with Ari. Then there was the other human who had a dragonite. When she was about to be beaten bloody he appeared out of nowhere and saved her, and she in turn saved him back. Then there was her former trainer; she was kind and caring before everything. It was because of her that Ari was an espeon.

Yet it was also because of her trainer that Ari was here today. It was because of the humans that were in charge of this place that she was reduced to this decrepit state. It was because of those two other humans, the grunt and the brute, Valimond and Bo, that her hope for an escape was almost destroyed.

It was by this time that Ari finally and fully realized that the metal doors had closed for good. There would be nobody else to open it for her. If she wanted to escape she still could though. The lack of weight around her neck and the freedom of her mind that the espeon became ever more aware of attested to that. With her returned psychic powers, it would be no problem to press the buttons and open the doors again.

She looked back down the corridor, towards the other end, and found the vague shapes of the human trainer and his dragonite. She looked back at the doors again, where escape lied just past, with visible hesitation. Then she closed her eyes and opened them with a far more determined expression, before turning herself the other way. For reasons she would have to find out later, the espeon began walking towards the humans she thought she understood.

xxxxx

"That'll be 8000 Cenz please."

Grumbling quietly but saying nothing, Edward handed the sum of money over to the man behind the booth and took the tickets from his hand. Once the trade was completed, the young alchemist mumbled a thank you and began walking away from the ticket booth down towards the plaza of paved tiles. The Elric brother was currently at a train station. The Easy City train station, to be specific.

The station was, in no uncertain terms, grand. At the center of the plaza, engrained into the tiles, was an embellished and highly stylized version of the proud Amestrian Symbol of the two headed dragon. Walls here and there bore simplified alchemical formulae, more for decoration than for purpose. That was the reason Edward had come up with and was sticking to, though; no alchemist worth their salt would take credit for the inaccurate formulae drawn. It was an awe inspiring sight when taken with the rest of the station regardless. The ceiling only added to that, being a combination of interwoven glass and metal that allowed multiple beams of light to scatter across the building. To many, it was a tourist attraction all on its own.

To Edward, who had seen it so many times he had half-forgotten it was there, it was rather boring. So too was the case with the many citizens that regularly came and went, off and on the trains in the station. As a crossroads of East City's business center it was only natural that it's well-crafted structures would be lost to the regular, unruly crowds. Groups of people were moving everywhere at rapid pace, from one direction to the next in all directions; it was an organized chaos of humans traveling en masse. It was one such crowd of bustling chaos that Edward was trying to escape, dodging between limbs and repeating "excuse me" at every turn as if he was a broken record. Maybe that was why he didn't care for the station half the time, he thought with no small amount of frustration. He hated when the crowds filled the station; it was impossible to tell where you were going, where you might end up, or when you might get tripped.

At that precise moment he finished that grumbling thought, before Edward was completely out of the crowd, his foot was tripped out from under him by a passerby. The result was a loss of balance and him falling none too spectacularly on the ground. He landed forehead first and stubbed his nose as the rest of his head followed. Ed practically yelped, getting up quickly and holding his nose with his left hand as he hissed in pain. "Al! Why didn't you catch me! I was…"

He stopped at that, halfway off from the ground. His brother was gone. And now, more than ever, did that Ed fully comprehend that statement. Al was gone. _Gone_. He could be anywhere now. Somewhere in that… other world. Or consumed by the gate, gone forever. Or he could be dead entirely, destroyed as the cost for the transmutation that took him. Either way, his brother was gone and he couldn't get him back because he—

He told himself to stop, hitting himself with his left hand. He didn't have time to entertain those kind of thoughts. Somewhere there was a madman trying to build himself an army with not-chimeras. A man who was crazy enough to do anything to get it in the first place, like sacrificing someone's family.

So, the facts. Ed needed to go over the facts, to get a hold on reality and to stop himself from thinking about _that_ while he still could. The first fact was that Isorfold was using a dangerous and relatively new field of alchemy called teleportation alchemy. The second fact is that he's using that alchemy to pull creatures from a completely different world. The third is that it's working, despite being just a little too close to human transmutation. His new "companions" were proof of that. Then there was the fact that one of the pokémon he and his brother had already captured had escaped, screwing things up further. And, as if the universe or god or whatever force he didn't believe in truly hated him, Scar was now involved. Finally, and the hardest fact to accept, his brother was gone, and _it was his fault because if he had_ —

He slapped himself with his right hand, then hissed in pain at the stupid mistake of using his automail hand to get a hold of himself. He composed his thoughts nonetheless and continued to the conclusion of his facts. Edward Elric was almost completely alone; he needed all the help he could get, even if he didn't want it.

So what to do now, he wondered? Isorfold may or may not have fled north. If he isn't, then he had to trust Colonel Mustang to find the madman while he was away (the concept of which literally made Ed gag). If he _is_ in the North, then there was a lot territory to cover. By the time he found the bastard, it was a real possibility that he might already have an army. Still, he thought, a lead is a lead, and it was a damn good one right now. Besides that, it wasn't like he had anything better to do at the moment anyway.

With newfound resolve, the Fullmetal Alchemist picked himself up and continued on his way. As he walked to meet Daryn and Armstrong, he wondered just how exactly he was going to find Isorfold once he arrived in the North. The wild goose chase that was this case was only getting bigger, he bitterly thought.

Wherever Al was, Ed hoped his brother was faring much better than he was.

xxxxx

Putting his hands behind his head and his feet on the paper-strewn desk before him, leaning back into his chair, Roy Mustang Finally gave up. His eyes flickered between the notes on his desk belonging to the mad alchemist and the ceiling tiles above him. It had been no problem deciphering Isorfold's notes. While it had taken awhile to figure out the code, Mustang found that the notes followed it loyally once he did. The problem came in trying to understand what was actually said; half of what he had deciphered, what was not related to alchemy, made little to no sense. What _was_ related to alchemy was also a problem; it wasn't helping him figure out how to get Alphonse back.

He took another glance back at the notes, briefly considering whether or not he should take another crack at understanding them or incinerating them entirely. His fingers pressed up against each other as he eyed the papers. Incineration was tempting, but he ultimately decided against it. No matter how much relief the act of frustration would bring him, he'd only be setting himself up for more stress in the future. So instead Mustang took up the notes in his hands once more, pouring over their contents to catch anything he might have missed before.

He first found that the notes were written much like the journal of an animal watcher. A description of the color of fur or skin, eating habits, and common behaviors of animals observed with a mention to a "home in the snow" mixed at seemingly random intervals. In combination with the occasional vagueness and consistency errors he found about the phrase, Mustang had quickly deciphered that the metaphor was closely tied to the transmutation circle that Isorfold used. It was also a clue as to where the mad alchemist's current whereabouts may be, which Roy had been sure to tell Fullmetal. That was the information he had immediately found out.

The problem with the notes, Mustang found, was that the details that were hidden in the notes were lacking. The most descriptions he found of the transmutation circle that the alchemist used were few and far between, and vague at best. He did find, however, extensive (or as extensive as coded notes could get) descriptions of the _results_ of the transmutations. Those results being… unpleasant. Each "journal entry" detailed or mentioned an injury with each time that a transmutation was mentioned. Many of the injuries in question were deadly, Mustang found. Lost limbs, missing organs, and sometimes, to the alchemist's horror, cases of pokémon missing elements whole sale from their bodies. It told him that those cases were primarily failures. It was a safe assumption that held true for each and every entry. Except for the last three, which were cases of success. Depending on how and when the alchemist wrote, Roy gravely concluded that Isorfold only recently completed his transportation transmutation circles.

Isorfold had taken the trial and error approach to perfecting his alchemy. The mere implications of that sentence did not bode well with the Flame Alchemist. Clearly, the mad alchemist did not care in the slightest for the animals and pokémon he transmuted. What did this mean for Alphonse, he wondered? It meant that Al would be very lucky to be alive after he was transmuted, Roy realized. Isorfold only ever cared about what he got, not what he paid. Looking back at the notes, Roy found this to be true; they only detailed in the taking of pokémon instead of giving them back.

That only made his job harder, he thought with exasperation. He would have to figure out how to get the younger Elric back by himself. Mustang was no expert on transportation alchemy, however, and the only person qualified to teach it was the very same man that they were trying to catch.

After much thought, Mustang put his feet back on the floor beneath his desk and rested his chin on his hands, hunched over the documents before him. Perhaps there was something he missed? Perhaps some other piece of code he had yet to figure out that give him the answers? The alchemist doubted it, but he grabbed the notes into his hands and turned to a random page regardless. Thus the exhaustive search for answers was begun again.

And then quickly ended. Several minutes passed of finding absolutely nothing before the urge to burn the notes into cinders bubbled up in the alchemist once more. This time the urge was stronger than ever, and the alchemist could feel his gloved fingers rubbing against each other to the point that they almost created sparks. He ultimately did not follow through on the act, but that was due to a new distraction: the phone was ringing.

Roy was quick and eager to pick up the noisy device. Perhaps too eager, he thought; the boisterous voice on the other end turned the alchemist crestfallen.

 _"Roy, my man! How are you doing today?"_

It was Hughes. He was calling on a military line. Again.

Roy sighed and rubbed his forehead. There was no doubt that the man was calling to talk about his wife and child. Of course, by "talking about" what the alchemist really meant was _gushing_. It was practically a routine for Mustang's patience to be tested by the unabashed family man. It was not that the man disliked Hughes or his family, on the contrary, he liked them very much. Where he raised issue was being constantly called by the other man to talk about them.

"Hughes, what have I told you about calling on a military line?" Roy asked, annoyance palpable in his voice.

 _"Only call when it's vitally important. That's why…"_ Maes' voice dropped a decibel in tone, prompting Mustang to lean forward into the phone held against his ear. _"I've called to tell you that… my little Elicia's birthday party is coming in two weeks!"_

Slam _!_

 _"Huh, what was that?"_

"Nothing." Mustang mumbled, rubbing his pained forehead as a large red mark began to form. "I just slipped is all."

 _"Oh. Well, you should be more careful next time."_

Mustang snorted. "Yeah, sure. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about (considering that you clearly don't care about military policy)?"

 _"I've heard some rumors about Alphonse."_

Mustang started at that, then his eyes narrowed and became downcast; his demeanor making a shift to serious and solemn.

When Hughes next spoke, his tone was serious as well. _"And I've also heard that you're not letting Edward investigate ways to get him back."_

"… It's better if Fullmetal continued with a goal while unheeded by distractions"

 _"Well that's not harsh at all, calling his brother a distraction."_ Hughes retorted with sharp sarcasm. _"Wouldn't you do everything in your power to get back somebody you love?"_

It was a provocative question, but it was not something that Roy had been unprepared for. "Ed—Fullmetal—needs to focus on Isorfold. If you've heard the rumors, then you probably have some idea of what that man is like; we can't let him do something like this again. Plus, it'll keep the loss from weighing him down for the time being. As for his brother, I'm handling the issue. That way, if and when Isorfold has been caught, Fullmetal won't have to start from scratch."

 _"Yeah, sure. After that, you get to take credit for saving the younger brother of the state's prodigy alchemist."_ The other man replied, cheerfully teasing.

Over this, Mustang let loose a small chuckle. That comment would have been an uncalled for jab to anyone but Mustang. Especially considering that it came from Maes Hughes. Even when the man was teasing or calling inappropriately, Mustang could not help but find himself amused by his company and share a laugh every now and then. The flame alchemist honestly didn't know what life would be like without him, irritating as he may be.

 _"So this Isorfold situation of yours; it's a real mess isn't it? Rumors are going around that the guy's found a way to bring to Amestris whole species of animals from another world, or dimension, or something like that. As if something like that could be true. It sounds more like something straight out of a children's story."_ Hughes scoffed before pausing. When he next spoke, it was with excited enthusiasm. " _Speaking of children's stories, you want to know what Elicia did last night? She told the entire Big Bad Wolf story from memory! It was so cute and amazing!"_

 _"_ I'm going to hang up now, Hughes."

 _"But, wait, I'm not done-"_ Mustang already put the phone back down on the receiver, with just a _bit_ too much force, before Maes could continue. Even with the phone call ended Mustang found the man's words had stuck with him. Specifically, the line "like a children's story." Why did that stick with him? He pondered why for a few seconds before realization hit him like a ton of bricks.

He quickly brought the leather bound note book into his hands and opened them to the first page. At first, Mustang wasn't quite sure how to interpret what was written there; a return, copy, and printed address as well as what looked like a sentence of dedication. For the addresses, the alchemist wasn't sure whether to take them at face value and investigate, or try to decode whatever hidden meaning was there. This was especially true for the sentence of dedication. While it was not entirely uncommon for an alchemist to write "in memory of…" or "special thanks to…" when they published their works, it felt misplaced in Isorfolds _written_ notes. He had regarded it with suspicion before, but now he realized what the sentence truly meant.

 _ **"For my father, who always told the best children's stories."**_

Mustang smiled a cocky smile. Maes Hughes could really be a genius sometimes.

xxxxx

The large and aged stone gears turned against each other. Each wedge interlocking with another. Rumbling in the background and resounding in booming thuds throughout the underground structure. An intricate system of cement and metal piping was where the lumbering structures rested behind. The pipes dropped from an impossibly high and impossibly dark ceiling, their origin unknown. They were tangled in and about each other, eventually straightening out as they connected to their destination (source?) in the very center of the cavernous structure. It was an image reminiscent of organic veins. A stone throne, the destination of the pipes, where the air was sterile and foreboding, rested in the middle. Arguably in the middle of the entire country.

On that throne with which everything connected sat a man. It was clear, however, that he was anything but. On appearance alone he seemed to be in his mid-30s, but he had the air of an ancient; perhaps he was older than the very country he resided under. His beard and hair were bleached despite the lack of sunlight, yet still golden in color. His face was chiseled, and at one time, it might have captivated many a woman, but now it was as foreboding and as threatening as the room he resided in. His eyes were sharp and calculating, gold and dull, and were focused on an old leather-bound book that was written in an obscure and perhaps dead language.

Seconds passed like minutes, minutes passed like hours, which in turn passed like centuries for the voluptuous woman standing just behind the stone throne and its occupant. This was the hardest part for Lust, waiting to be spoken to so that she could in turn speak herself. The tension that her father made was often unbearable. Speaking up to him to break the silence was a taboo, however. She would wait until he spoke first. That was what she was taught.

Her shapely form stood as still as stone as she waited. Next to her was a cart, on which rested the black and blue (and currently some red) form of the feline creature, almost comparable to a lion, that she had brought before him. It was injured and unconscious. Barely alive. Lust was nothing less than impressed to see that it was alive, if slowly dying.

If she didn't know any better, she would have written the creature off as a chimera. She had seen plenty in her time. Some were grotesque, and others were the essence of magnificence. The creature that rested beside her certainly had the characteristics one could assume belonged to an alchemically created creature. But she **did** know better. It was a pokémon, an animal from another world with fantastic powers. This one in particular was brought over by that insect, Isorfold. From what her brother had told her, it was also sentient. Luckily for her, it didn't look like it would awaken anytime soon.

Did Lust particularly care about the pokémon? No. Whether it lived or died was of little consequence to her conscience. It was proof that her venture was coming to fruition, and nothing more. It was proof that the investment of a philosopher's stone was worth it. What her father did with the pokémon was not her concern. Lust almost smirked; it was likely that he would try dissecting it.

Finally the book snapped shut and her father regarded her. It was not the same as being spoken to, but it was the next closest cue for her to begin speaking. "Isorfold now has a philosopher's stone." She started, relieved to break the silence but still tense in her father's presence. "It's nothing substantial, however. I believe if he were pushed in the right direction, he could very easily become a sacrifice. If not, once his usefulness has reached its end, we'll have a plethora of… monsters to our disposal."

Her father brought a hand to his chin and nodded in contemplation at her words before turning his attention to the pokémon on the cart. "I assume that this is one of the monsters that you are referring to?" His voice was deep and monotone. It reverberated throughout the room and to Lust's core.

Lust nodded. "From what Envy has told me, they are called "Pokémon." It's the other world's version of animals, apparently. This one is apparently called a "Luxray." Importantly, these pokémon have supernatural abilities and, as Envy has reported, sentience."

"Sentience?" Her father seemed to almost taste the word in his mouth for a moment. Intrigued, he stood up from his chair, joints quietly hissing and popping from the movement. Small flashes of red revealed that the pipes connecting to the chair connected to _him_ as well. After standing to his full height, her father began to walk over to the cart, his wooden sandals clicking against the stone of the floor all along the way. After reaching it he kneeled down to observe the unconscious pokémon at eye level, his expression never changing beyond the glint of curiosity in his eyes. "And what of your brothers, Envy and Gluttony?"

"Envy is currently in disguise, rounding up Isorfold's strays and putting them to work. As for Gluttony," Lust paused, a soft chuckle escaping her as she thought of her voracious brother's antics, "He almost couldn't stop himself from eating this one. So I told him to go track Isorfold's whereabouts."

Her father hummed in response before taking up the luxray's head in his hands, lifting it up and examining it. He turned the pokemon's head about, examining its facial marks and fur patterns while seemingly ignorant of the dried blood flaking off into his hands. He carefully rested the head back down after coming to some sort of conclusion. After that her father stood up and walked around the cart, running his hand along the torso. There was a twitch in the pokemon's body, but it remained unconscious. Still running his hand along the creature, her father finally stopped at the other end, where he began to examine one of the more currently deformed legs. A moment passed and he dropped the leg, his expression still as blank as before.

"This one is quite injured." He stated, voice level and monotonous. "One of the bones in its right leg has been fractured, while the entire left leg has been shattered. One of its forelegs is sprained as well, and it has a number of broken ribs. Some of them are digging into its vital organs, one of which, a lung, has been punctured."

Now that her father mentioned it, Lust noticed the misshapenness of its leg, as well as how oddly compressed its chest was. She sighed. She partly knew the reason why, but it was one of the parts she had been dreading to tell, and hoping that she wouldn't have to. "It was found after a run in with… Scar, father. It seemed like the human was trying to kill it."

"Scar?" Her father lifted his head to look at her, his emotionless stare boring through her. "The troublesome human who carelessly interferes with our goals? I thought he was dead… Will he be a problem?"

Lust shook her head, inwardly relieved at the lack of reaction. "I suspect that he won't, Father. He can't find Isorfold without knowledge of his whereabouts, and he's been injured. It's not likely he will be involved any further." Her tone was assuring. The truth was that Lust was not sure herself. Scar was an annoying one. Between his habit of killing precious alchemists and disappearing and reappearing at the most inappropriate times, the man was unpredictable. Try as they might, he was still a problem for herself and her siblings.

"Really now. Was it not you who reported that he was deceased?" It was a statement more than it was a question, and it was scolding all the same.

"Yes, Father." She answered, hanging her head low to avoid the stare he was now giving her. Anxiousness crept up inside her as she remained in his presence.

Her father put one of his hands on the luxray's torso once more, his eyes looking away from Lust. "And what of the Elric brothers?" He asked, his attention still on the pokémon.

Lust took a step back and averted his absent gaze. This was the other part she had been dreading to tell. She almost certainly knew what her father's reaction would be. "They have been meddling with Isorfold's affairs for the past few days, as we expected; the Fullmetal Alchemist was ordered by Mustang to capture him. Recently, however, the armored boy was lost. I do not know if he is still alive or if he's dead, but it is safer to assume the latter."

His reaction was immediate. He tore his attention away from the pokémon and directed it towards her with a fierce glare. His face was still; only the subtle downturn of his eyebrows betrayed his surprise and anger. It was not unjustified. Alphonse Elric had been all but confirmed as a human sacrifice. Losing him was nothing less than a setback.

"Explain." He said simply, voice slightly lower; it was almost a growl.

"Isorfold used the armored boy in a transmutation and received both a pokémon _and_ a human as a result. It's possible that they might have seen _the portal_." Lust quickly replied. The thought of her father's anger was not something she liked to entertain.

Her father's expression changed at that. The subtle downturn of his brows that indicated his anger was now a subtle upturn of intrigue. He looked back down at the pokémon on the cart, scratching his bleached gold beard in contemplation. After the passing of several seconds, a bright red glow began to emit from the hand still placed on the luxray's chest. The glow quickly became blinding as arcs of red tinted lightning flashed about. Lust watched as the pokemon's misshapen leg mended itself together into a proper shape, and new life seemed to be born within it as its chest began to rise and fall with proper breaths.

Lust found herself surprised. Not by show of her father's alchemy, which she had seen countless times in a number of varying ways, but by the fact that he bothered to use it in the first place. Mercy was not a concept he properly knew, nor was it something he extended to lower life forms unless they had future value. Did her father require the pokémon for a future purpose then, she wondered?

He turned his attention to her once again, solemn and expressionless as before. "I have deemed this to be a venture worth continuing. Depending on what happened to these… pokémon during their transfer, they may have some future potential as sacrifices. Isorfold as well. He may also be a candidate for sacrifice. There is much to be gained and much to be lost from this venture," He walked away from her and the pokémon in question, and towards his throne where he sat down and rested his stare her at her before continuing. "That is why you must take care in your operations. Continue observing and only intervene when it is necessary. At the same time, make sure to get as much information about these pokémon from Envy. It is our true goal that you are working towards, my daughter."

Lust nodded in acknowledgement. She knew her father was right. As interesting as monsters and other worlds was, Isorfold was merely a distraction. A profitable distraction? Undeniably. But it was a distraction from their preparations for the promised day nonetheless.

"Still," He continued, "if this is handled correctly, then we might finish preparations ahead of schedule. For now, you are dismissed." Lust wasn't positive, but she thought she spotted the faintest of smiles on his face. At that moment he waved her off, and opened the leather book he was previously reading before; their meeting was done. In her humble opinion, Lust found that it had gone better than expected.

Lust nodded in response before turning to the pokémon resting on the cart beside her. It was alive, breathing, but still unconscious. She looked back at her father, who was back to reading his ancient tome and completely turned away from her, partially shadowed in inky darkness. He had deemed the pokémon valuable, but Lust found herself pondering the question of what to do with it.

A thought came to her then, and she smiled. Securing Isorfold's actions and further gaining his trust could help control the current situation. And what better way to do that then to return a lost pet? She took the handles of the cart into her hands and began pushing the cart towards the exit, which was a set of double doors of questionable material, and large enough to fit a giant. The doors opened against the metal of the cart, casting a light into the room that was almost blinding. Her form was obscured in shadow as she walked into it, the double doors closing behind her by some unknown force and clicking shut with a low but echoing _bang_.

In seconds the room became silent once more. The not-quite-a-man called Father, despite the darkness that now perpetuated him, turned his unaffected attention to the small, circular desk beside his stone chair. There sat a small wooden board that sported an intricately carved circle. The circle itself seemed almost arcane; Latin writings peppered the outsides and insides of the circle, which bore a double layered pentagram that touched the edges. It could have been mistaken for the setting of a board game, but it was lacking of any pieces. It was more than that, though. If one were to make a guess, it could be called the center. Of what, however, was debatable.

He reached a hand forward towards it and traced the line with a finger, before moving his hand underneath the table top to pull out a single drawer. The contents rattled and rolled from the action, but otherwise remained stationary. The objects themselves were figurines; almost game pieces. Five in total and all gothic in design. One piece seemed to be wrapped in barb wire, while another was draped in a sheet, made to look like a ghost. Another piece seemed to bear the skull of a dragon while yet another carried a smaller green skull at its side. The last piece was wrapped in a half robe and had a broken crown atop its head.

The not-quite-man scratched his chin in a thoughtful manner as he stared at a random piece now held in his other hand. As he rolled the piece between his fore finger and his thumb, he began tapping on the arm rest of his chair with another finger from his left. After a moment, the finger stopped tapping. A flash of red light and quick flashes of electricity appeared when he did, and from the display emerged five new pieces that were all animalistic in appearance. When the flashes of alchemy disappeared, there was not a trace on the rock or the new figurines that a transmutation had ever occurred. All of them appeared as if they had been carefully hand crafted. One of the new pieces was picked up and replaced by the previously held figurine, and Father let out a single hum as he inspected it.

"I wonder," He began to say aloud with true curiosity in his voice, "How has the game been changed with the introduction of these new pieces?"

xxxxx

 _Direction can mean everything in an endeavor, but the endeavor must be taken before the impact can be felt. With your path in place and your direction set, do you know the destination that you are headed?_

 _Next Time_

 _Tidings to the North_


End file.
